


Kitties and Crowns

by Lillyleaf101



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: Abuse and Healing, Anal, Child Abuse, Complete, F/F Background Relationship, Just normal kids being kids, M/M, NOT Evil Harry, Not Time Travel, Rape/Non-con Elements, School Life, Sex, Smut, Starts off pretty happy but later chapters get dark, They both Top and Bottom, blowjob
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-29
Updated: 2015-03-20
Packaged: 2018-02-19 06:26:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 35
Words: 63,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2378180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lillyleaf101/pseuds/Lillyleaf101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fifth year Harry Potter was known only for being the outcast, mudblood of Slytherin and also an immense bookworm, While sixth year Tom Riddle was of course the most popular kid in school. Harry however had never much liked Riddle, watching him like a hawk and waiting for him to do something suspicious, he was probably the only kid in school who would not bow down at Riddles feet, and mostly not worth the effort to force him to do so. Which is surprising seeing as Harry has a HUGE secret crush on him. So what is in store for these two very different yet so very alike boys?</p><p>An AU in which Harry Potter is a muggleborn in the same era as Tom Riddle, No time-travel involved. </p><p>COMPLETE.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sweet Denial

The snow crunched under their feet as the three students walked down the Hogsmeade road, it was the last Hogsmeade weekend before the students would go home to be with their families over Christmas. Harry was walking with his two best, and only really, friends, both of which were from Hufflepuff. He himself was a Slytherin, but he was an outcast from them for several reasons, one of which being the fact that he was a muggleborn, another being that he simply did not get along with the other Slytherins, he would rather read and practice magic, and throw out a few pranks here and there, than stand around talking about how much money his parent made or how nice his robes were, though they weren't really as nice as the others, his father was not rich.

Notice the fact he only said one parent, well that was because his mother had died when he was very young, it had been in a car crash, Harry had been with her and it was considered a miracle he had survived, since finding out he was a wizard he suspected that his magic was the reason behind it, the accident had left him with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead though, he hated it, it was a constant reminder that he had survived the crash and his mother hadn't.

"Hey, earth to Harry, are you listening?" Monica practically shouted, she was one of his friends, a very busty girl and not very tall, though still taller than Harry, he hated being such a midget, she was usually very loud and excitable, she was all for getting in trouble by helping Harry out with his pranks. She had slightly tanned skin due to a foreign ancestry, rounded and curvy features despite not being overweight at all, and thick, neat, light hair that reached her shoulders, it was more red than blonde, giving off a golden sort of look that shone fiery in the sun.

"He's probably spacing out thinking about all the books we made him leave back at the castle." Sam laughed, Sam was the tallest of the group but tended to be the most shy, he was very lanky, his skin was a healthy cream colour with freckles dotted here and there, and had russet brown hair that was short and stuck up at the front. He was usually the voice of reason between the trio and was currently standing between them.

"Yeah yeah, I'm a massive bookworm and am going through withdrawals!" Harry grinned back at her, the three had been heading back into the town after checking out the snow covered field not too far off, it was just as Harry had replied to his friend that a certain person caught his eye. Tom Riddle.

"Oh, Sam it looks like Harry's staring at his boyfriend again!" Monica practically sing-songed, Harry spluttered.

"He is _not_ my boyfriend! We aren't even friends!"

"Oh but you have a crush on him don't you? You are _always_ staring at him!"

"I stare because he is suspicious, you know that!"

"But what suspicious stuff has he ever done?" Sam asked, his tone neutral unlike the over-excited Monica.

"Everything he does is suspicious!" Harry huffed, folding his arms and returning his attention over to Riddle, there was a Ravenclaw girl in front of him, seemingly handing him a pink letter.

"Yet another admirer to have their hopes crushed no doubt." Sam intoned.

"Looks like." Replied Harry.

"Aw, not gonna get heart broken are you Harry?" Monica grinned.

"No! Because I don't have a crush on Riddle!" It wasn't actually _entirely_ true, he was attracted to the devilishly handsome student that was only a year above him, but he _was_ also suspicious of him and didn't very much like his arrogance. "He's never had a girlfriend has he? Maybe he's bent?" Although thinking about it Harry had never seen Riddle with any guys in that way either.

"Hopeful?" Monica raised a suggestive eyebrow at him but failed to keep the cheeky grin off her face and out of her voice.

"Hopeful that he chokes on a shrivelfig." Harry watched as the girl ran off crying, leaving Riddle seemingly unaffected by the exchange. Harry wrenched his gaze around. "Let's go to Scrivenshaft's." Harry suggested.

Asked slightly breathlessly after she finished guffawing at his last comment, "Need more quills already? How many notes do you take?"

"I swear you should have been sorted into Ravenclaw Harry." Sam sighed.

They headed into the quill shop, Harry's two friends simply looking around while Harry choose out several ink pots, a new journal and two red quills, he made his purchase and they quickly dragged him out of the store.

"Alright, lets go to Honeydukes now!" Monica exclaimed gleefully. Harry and Sam followed the girl as she seemingly bounced her way down the street, over-excited just didn't cover it. And getting sugar in her was even worse but neither of them was willing to get in the way on Monica and food, especially sweets. As they passed the stores Harry noticed two people down an alley way, and of course it was Riddle, he was with a boy but Harry couldn't see him well down the dark alley, not even to make out his scarf colour, he also seemed to have just been rejected like that girl, Harry was quickly unable to see the pair again as he followed his friends past the alley. Guess that rules out him being bent.

Honeydukes was, as usual, filled up with students trying to fill up on stashes of candy as if they weren't about to all go home to have sweets with their families. Harry quickly got separated from his friends as he browsed for his own sweets near the entrance and they moved further in the get to the giant lollipops. Harry was just wondering if he should get some Fizzing Whizzbees when the light from the door darkened and a large group of boys and girl walked in, mostly Slytherins and a few Ravenclaws and Harry knew before he saw him that Riddle was at the back of said group. Riddle paused at the entrance while his group separated throughout the store to get what they wanted, once left alone he starting to seemingly browse the wares with an uninterested air, getting closer to Harry with every step, a move Harry tracked through an unwavering side-eye stare. Riddle stopped right next to him, still looking down at the sweets.

"Fancy meeting you here Potter." He kept his gaze down.

"Not really. Aren't you an orphan? I don't believe you have any money to buy anything, going to steal it?" He replied nonchalantly. Riddle stiffened minutely before relaxing again. Harry himself wasn't exactly loaded either but his father regularly transferred money to his Gringotts account so he had enough for a few sweets every now and then.

"I am merely here to accompany my friends."

"You mean your cronies. I don't believe you have any real friends Riddle."

"I'm not going to steal anything." Riddle's tone almost sounded humorous. Almost.

"Sure you're not." Harry turned his gaze towards some acid pops on a higher shelf.

"What have I ever done to make you so very hostile towards me? We are not even in the same year." Riddle intoned, he still hadn't looked up. "Perhaps you have a liking for me? I have seen you staring at me constantly, as if your eyes are magnetized to myself."

"I don't. You are simply suspicious." Despite his words he felt his cheeks warm slightly, just slightly, thank the cold that they were already rather pink. It was true that Riddle had never really done anything explicit to make Harry suspect him of foul behavior, although the people he hung out with had given Harry quite the hard time when he was first sorted in Slytherin, thank his blood status and non-existent wealth for that, but Riddle himself hadn't really been a part of it, maybe only from the background. Harry supposed it was simply his attitude that made Harry suspect him, he was an arrogant prat that waltzed about as if he owned the school and he had a habit of ditching his friends to sneak off around the castle.

"Oh really? How?"

"You just are." Harry huffed. "Why do you reject all the people who confess to you? Both male a female?"

"That seems rather personal, but perhaps its because I am simply not interested."

A silence dragged out between them, Harry was sure he was Riddles eyes shift over to side-eye him but the action was over too soon.

"Yeah sure, whatever." Harry replied, it sounded reasonable enough, his gaze darted around, looking for Sam and Monica and wondering how long they would take, he really should make his purchase. He glanced back at Riddle. "Oops." He stated, far too nonchalantly as he dropped 5 galleons, rolling them off his foot so they didn't make a sound. "See you later Riddle." He gave a half-hearted wave behind him as he walked over to the counter, leaving Riddle to wordlessly summon the coins to his hand and a moment and stare after him before continuing to look at the shelves of odd sugary treats.

Just because he didn't like him much didn't mean he couldn't throw him a bone. Harry returned to his friends and they headed off to the three broomsticks to finish up their trip with a warm butter-beer each.

 

 

_To be continued..._


	2. Can't Stop The Snow From Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas holiday stuffs! And a chance to shove Harry and Tom closer! I don't expect the build to be TOO long but their relationship isn't gonna start over night, as I said before Harry and Tom haven't really interacted much, they do not hate each other but aren't very friendly either, Riddles friends have bullied Harry in the past about his blood status so there's that too. Christmas stuff may span over 2 or 3 chapters depending on length, I don't like writing long chapters.
> 
> This is non-beta'd and I am not even reading through it 3-4 times as I usually do, if there's any mistakes feel free to point them out, I won't take offense.

The snow was falling lazily outside the high windows, a backdrop of white that covered the grounds below and shone brightly into the library with a soft light. The students had all gone home for Christmas, well all but two, Harry Potter and Tom Riddle had stayed at the castle and were the only students left, usually there would be more students staying behind but the war with Grindelwald was approaching Britain and many families were wanting to spend more time together in case something bad happened in the future. So why hadn't Harry gone home? Well he simply hadn't wanted to. He preferred to stay at the castle reading the many books the library offered, and his father had not been at all bothered by this, he hadn't even suggested for Harry to come home anyway.

It was simply unfortunate that the only two students left in the castle were always in the same place, whether that be the common room, library or great hall at meal times. You'd think it would be easy for two people to avoid each other in such a large place but no, not when they were so alike in their interests, that being reading any and all books they could get their hands on. As it was Harry was strolling past the bookshelves, seeking out a particular table with a particular sixth year sitting at it, once he spotted him he went straight over, practically slamming his book down on the table, satisfied when Riddle flinches slightly, before exclaiming smugly.

"Asexual."

Riddle merely raised an eyebrow at him over his own book before glancing over at the book Harry had mistreated, "A psychology book? Where did you even find that?"

Harry sighed, "It was written by a group of witches and wizards to understand the mind of magical people, though I doubt its much different from anyone else but that is why I found it in the library of a magical school." He explained before continuing, "You said you weren't interested in relationships and stuff so I went and figured out why." He pointed over at the heavy book placed on the table, "Asexual means you don't have an interest in that kind of stuff." Harry smiled smugly, mentally patting himself on the back for figuring this so very unimportant detail out, at least, it was only unimportant to other people but Harry liked finding things out, especially concerning Riddle.

"Congratulations." Riddle intoned, seemingly unimpressed. "I don't really care what you call it. You find psychology interesting?"

"I find a lot of things interesting." Harry stated, not very happy that Riddle was so unmoved by his find, he was _not_ pouting though! He would deny anyone who said so.

"And is that the _only_ reason you came over here? To talk about my sexuality, or rather lack of one?" He spoke as if he thought Harry actually did have another reason, he didn't really so he just crossed his arms and turned away, pouting. Riddle laughed at him, more of a low pitched chuckle than anything.

 

* * *

 

 

Harry was standing in the great hall, at the wall just next to the entrance, watching the staff decorating the hall with all sorts of shiny things, even some tiny fairies which were prancing about and lighting up the place like so many bright baubles. He noticed as Riddle entered the hall holding three books to his chest, glancing around before spotting Harry and sidling up to him and staring out as Harry was.

"Looks bright. I don't know why they bother when there's so few people." Harry stated by way of greeting.

"It horrid. They could at least celebrate in a more wizard fashion." Riddle sniffed. Harry turned his head to him, looking him over before returning his gaze to the immense hall.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, being raised by his very religious muggle father he had not even known there was another way to celebrate Christmas.

"Wizards celebrate very differently from muggles." Riddle sighed, looking to his books and pulling out the middle one he handed it to Harry, the title read _'Magical Holidays and Celebrations'_.

"So why are they celebrating in a muggle fashion?" Harry wondered, taking the book and absently flipping through it.

"Most likely because of all the muggleborn students." Harry didn't miss the fact that he did not say 'mudblood', "The whole bloody magical world seems to want to cater to them, letting them bring in their own traditions by abolishing our own. The purebloods still celebrate properly, that's why they always go home, because at Hogwarts they don't get a chance to, every holiday is done in a muggle fashion now, most likely due to Headmaster Dippet and Professor Dumbledore being such muggle loving fools." Harry had grown used to hearing Riddles speeches in the common room so was not at all shocked at his opinion of the deputy headmaster or his thoughts on pureblood traditions being wiped out for muggle ones. Harry actually felt himself agreeing, it wasn't very fair to ruin the traditions of certain people in place of others.

"It would be nice to see how wizards celebrate these things, I never cared much for Christmas personally."

"Speaking of, why aren't you at home like all the other students? Did your father not want you?"

"Bit of that and me not wanting to go, like I said I don't care much for these things." There was a short silence between the two as they simply stood by the wall watching the teachers setting up the hall for dinner that night. Harry's mind wandered, thinking about what his father would be doing at home right about now.

"Are your parents religious?" The question almost surprised him but he guessed it shouldn't considering what they had been talking about.

"My father is. Highly. He works at the church even. I was never religious though, I just went along with it and by the time my father found out I didn't believe in any of it I was too old for him to change my mind about it."

"What about your mother?"

"I don't think she was, father mentioned it a few times when he found out I didn't believe in any of it, said she was a bad influence..." The thought brought Harry's mood sour slightly, he was too young to remember much of his mother but she had always been very kind to him but it seemed his father didn't hold her memory in such high regard, almost as if he didn't really care at all that she had died.

"Was? Did something happen to her?" Riddle asked, turning his attention on Harry. Harry had never told anyone of his parents before, he never had any reason to really.

"She died, when I was little, in a car crash..." There was a short silence between the two before he continued, "I was in the car, but I didn't die, father told me they found me outside of the wreckage, as if I had been thrown out of the car but there was no impact or bruises from that, just this scar." He gestured to his forehead, "I suppose it was my magic that saved me... You live at an orphanage right?" Riddle tensed slightly beside him but relaxed again before answering.

"Yes."

"Are they religious?" Riddle seemed to relax even more after that, perhaps he had been wondering if Harry would make another jibe at his lack of money.

"Yeah but you wouldn't really know right away, they don't make us go to church or anything, usually they just make sure they have enough food in store so no one dies of starvation and the head matron is so drunk all the time its a wonder she can get through an open doorway." Harry giggled at the description. "They have some crosses up around the place and some of the lesser matrons say prayers sometimes, also a priest comes around sometimes when he isn't busy elsewhere but usually the kids at the orphanage all avoid him."

"I suppose you don't really have enough money to celebrate huh?" Harry grinned evilly as Riddle tensed up again, he noticed as his hand dropped from the two books left in his arms and a wand appeared in it but before he could even lift it to curse Harry they were interrupted by the head of Slytherin, Professor Slughorn.

"Tom my boy! Enjoying the decorations are you? Care to help set up a few, we could do with more wands!" The professor was completely oblivious to the fact that the two students were about to hex each other into oblivion.

Riddle quickly regained his mask, "Yes they are wonderful, I was just about to offer my assistance."

 _Lies_ Harry thought and watched as Slughorn led Riddle away, the later placing his two books on the table in the middle of the hall before continuing following the potions master. Harry's curiosity got the better of him and so he snuck up to the table and inspected the books, one of which was named _'A History of Magical Traditions'_ and the other _'Magical Rituals and Tributes'_ , it seemed all three of the books followed the holiday theme, Harry quickly grabbed them all and hurried out, not to be dragged into setting up shiny baubles like Riddle was.

As he made off with the books he wondered just how mad Riddle would be when he found all of them gone, laughing to himself he ascended the moving stairs.

 

 

_To be continued..._


	3. Loveless Letters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My hand keeps getting sore while typing, bad hand. Another chapter and another attempt to push these two together against their will! What fun.

Harry was in the library lounging at the same comfortable table surrounded by couches when Riddle waltzed in, it only took once glance for Harry to see he was not in a good mood. With a smirk he nudged the stack of books towards Riddle without a word, he had of course skimmed through each of them and found the information to be adequate.

"You really ought not take whats not yours Potter." Riddle sniffed, arms crossed.

"Oh? I merely made sure you did not forget nor lose them in the chaos that is the great hall during Christmas break. And now they are returned to you. Really you should be thanking me."

"Did you read them?" Riddle asked as he settled down on the couch opposite Harry.

"Why?"

"Just wondering if you were finally interested in higher learning."

"Higher learning? I read books most seventh years haven't bothered to touch."

"Oh I know, but most of those follow the course work, the classes you do, I was talking about branching out from there and learning more about the magical world and less explored magics."

Harry chewed his lip for a moment, looking at Riddle over the top of his open transfiguration book, "I do. I just read the ones that follow the course more often because that's what I am working on and getting marks for at school, I want to get the highest marks I can, I only read the non-course books when I have finished all my work or am taking a short break from it." He shrugged.

"I see. So did you find my books interesting? Certainly the wizarding traditions are much more fun that muggle ones."

"Yeah, I guess so. I never really liked celebrating muggle traditions, they always seemed so silly and money wasting."

"As most are." Riddle stated, "The great hall is a travesty. It almost makes me want to just skip dinner."

"Will you?" Harry wondered.

"I suppose I _could_ ," Riddle sighed, "and I could just go to the kitchen to get food but my presence would surely be missed as it is only the two of us and the teachers have all been chatting me up as they made me help them set up, it would raise questions I would rather not bother with coming up with excuses for."

"Yeah, it would simply be easier to grin and bear it..." Harry agreed, Riddle nodded and picked up one of his books, flipping it open to a page near the center. They mostly read in silence, Harry stealing looks at the gorgeous boy every now and then, and _totally not_ blushing behind his book, but also looking for any suspicious signs, what to be suspicious for? He didn't know. Maybe he was just a naturally paranoid person.

 

* * *

 

 

When the clock tower chimed time for dinner they both got up and left the library together in silence, by the time they got down to the great hall there were only two seats left which happened to be right next to each other, why were the fates forcing him and Riddle to _always_ be so close at the moment?! He couldn't wait for Sam and Monica to return. They took their seats among the happily chatting teachers and the feast started. Riddle's seat had happened to be right next to Slughorn too, oh so coincidental Harry huffed, the damned potions master was always trying to grab Riddle's attention, and the two started a conversation right away, Harry heard snippets of Riddle attempting to convince Slughorn to rally for bringing back original pureblood traditions to Hogwarts, the Slytherin head of course lapped up his every word.

Harry didn't care much for the conversations going on around him, no one was attempting to include him and he wasn't interested in joining in, instead preoccupying himself with loading his plate up with food. The food was glorious and when dessert was served Harry eagerly dug into a treacle tart.

There were poppers sitting all about the table between the dishes of food and Harry watched as Professor Dumbledore, who was sitting on the other side of the table and a few chairs down, popped one open with the charms teacher and with a loud bang, a squashed looking top hat that was a deep blue with blindingly bright yellow stars on it, and a bird charmed to fly about the heads of the people at the table fell from the now broken popper in a shower of sparks and colourful confetti. He smirked around his spoon as Professor Dumbledore promptly discarded his faded deep purple wizard hat in exchange for the overly colourful one, plopping it down on his auburn head with a grin that was not quite shared by the other professor who seemed to still be taking in the brightness of the stars as the small bird whizzed about his head in speedy circles.

Harry wasn't much a fan of Dumbledore, mostly because the teacher seemed to have something against anyone in Slytherin, Riddle especially but even those who didn't suck up to the prefect still got the short end of the stick when it came to the transfiguration teacher. But he could still appreciate his sense of humour, after all having a single teacher not like him didn't matter much in the scheme of things, a year and a half and he would be out and probably never talk with or even see Dumbledore again. No point in making enemies, not that he didn't give a more than adequate amount of backchat when he did get in trouble by the teacher when he didn't deserve to be. It wasn't his fault that mouths did not come with lock functions. Nor was it his fault that the professor didn't like him just because he sported a green scarf or tie.

There was a flutter of wings from above and Harry saw his owl Hedwig descending from the roof, Harry wondered if perhaps his father had sent him a gift or even just a card of well-wishes, his heart rising. Hedwig landed neatly on his empty plate and promptly stuck her leg out for him, ever the smug bird she was. Harry quickly took the letter from her and opened it,

 

_Harry_

_I put more money in that vault of yours.  
Don't spend it all at once!_

 

 _Your Father_ _  
James Potter_

 

His good mood instantly crashed. Of course there were no well-wishes. He quickly stuffed the letter in his pocket, not caring if it ripped or crumpled, and gave Hedwig a few pats before she flew off again. He caught movement from the edge of his vision and turned to look but Riddle was not looking at him, or perhaps he had been looking and moved before Harry did? Suspicious, snoop. As if Harry would ever let anyone know.

 

 

_To be continued..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah his father is still named James, its common and explains his middle name staying the same. His relationship with his father will be explored later on!


	4. Tokens of our Non-effections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uncomfortable situations are a must!

The feast finished up and Harry and Riddle were walking down to their dorm, no one had asked Harry about his letter and Harry planned to burn it before anyone could have the chance of finding it.

"I noticed you got a letter, from your father I guess?" Riddle asked, far too innocently, and Harry tensed. He contemplated lying and saying it was from Sam but then Riddle would ask why Harry's owl was delivering it and not Sam's, Hedwig was sometimes too good looking for her own good, or rather his, people noticed her.

"Uh, yeah, why do you ask?" Harry blushed slightly, _smooth Harry, smooth._

"Well you just didn't seem to happy with it, not what you expected?"

"Ah, well things haven't gone _perfectly_ for him this holiday, so..." Harry lied then quickly changed the subject, "Did you see Dumbledore's hat?"

"Yeah," Riddle laughed, "It was dreadful! Just his style."

"Yeah, and that bird flew into my head twice!" Harry exclaimed, smiling now that Riddle seemed to have dropped the subject.

"I wanted to hex it!" The two laughed as they entered the dungeon halls.

"I'm just glad not all the poppers had such dreadful things inside them, a ghastly hat and an annoying toy in one? Trust Dumbledore!" Harry laughed and once again Riddle joined him before stopping. Harry stopped too just a step ahead and turned back to face him, the question of why he stopped hanging on his lips before Riddle reached into his robe pocket and pulled out a shiny green popper, letting it sit on his palm as he looked at Harry.

"Want to pop this one? Together?" He almost sounded hesitant and Harry wondered if Riddle had ever done so before with his so called friends, it was just a popper so why? "We can each have an item that falls out of it, unless you don't want it."

"Sure." Harry smiled, and he was _not_ blushing it was simply cold! He grabbed on to one end as Riddle held the other and they each gave it a good tug, the hallway exploded with a loud _bang_ and pink and orange confetti flew out along with a bunch of magical sparks, once the smoke cleared up they knelt down and looked at their loot, which was on the ground now. There was a golden crown, which was more of a diadem really, it was a round band with three curved points at the front facing upwards, the middle point was the largest and there was a ruby on it, the smaller points had emeralds, Harry wondered if it was real gold and gems or an elaborate fake, he then looked over to the other item, it was a black statuette of a cat sitting down, its tail wrapped around it's back, it seemed to glitter from the inside as if someone had stuck a tiny pitch dark solar system inside it. They each reached out for their preferred prize at once, Riddle's hand landing on the crown and Harry grabbing the cat which still had him mesmerized. They looked up at each other, and in the silent agreement each picked up their prize and stood again.

"A crown, how fitting for a pompous prick like you." Harry joked.

"I'm glad you think it suits." Riddle stated, placing it atop his head, and Harry had to admit it certainly did look nice on him, _but also increased his arrogant look!_

"Do I need to get a pin to pop your over inflated ego Riddle?"

"Me? Egotistical? Never!" He almost looked offended, almost, "I am simply wearing gear befitting of my place." He smiled at Harry smugly.

"Your place is in the dirt Riddle, like any other snake." Harry jabbed.

"Now what's so bad about snakes?" Riddle asked, his tone still light with amusement though.

Harry thought for a moment but he really couldn't think of too many reasons, "I don't know, why don't you tell me, you're the parseltongue." It was common knowledge that Riddle was a descendant of Slytherin and had his gift. "Maybe its the venom."

"You'd want venom too if you didn't have arms or legs." Riddle laughed, Harry saw his point. "Actually snakes are _really_ lazy, the laziest animal you will ever meet probably, aside from sloths. All they want to do it eat and sleep, preferably in the sun."

"But don't they bite people all the time?" He was actually getting curious now, he hadn't read many books on animals, certainly not non-magical ones, nor had he had the chance to talk to Riddle like this before.

"Only if they are scared or defending themselves, usually both. If you were taking a nice long nap in a forest and suddenly a giant boot landed near your head you would be pretty startled too and likely attempt to bite said offending boot." Riddle pointed out.

"So..." Harry started, "If you identify with snakes so much does that mean you are a lazy, glutenous thing that gets rudely awoken from naps by offending boots?"

"Least I'm not a tame little pussy-cat" Riddle teased.

"Hey! I'll have you know cats kill and eat snakes!"

"Ah! I suppose if I'm not careful I will have a fuzz-ball gnawing at my feet!" Riddle laughed.

"Hey, I'll sneak up on ya while your attending to that offending boot!" Harry joked and gave a cat-like hiss, making claws out of his fingers, "And start chewin' on ya hide!" The two laughed at their ridiculous joke as they got further into the dungeons, Harry felt a chill go down his spine and hugged his jumper closer to himself. "It sure is cold down here, lets hurry it up and get to our nice, warm beds."

"Agreed." Riddle stated, obviously feeling the cold too, damn the dungeons, but at least the dorm has heating charms on the stones so no one froze to death beneath the lake. They sped their pace up and quickly entered the dorm, only to be assaulted by even more waves of freezing cold.

"What the hell is going on here?" Harry exclaimed. The windows that looked out into the bottom of the lake were frosted over and seemed to be emitting clouds of cold that drifted lazily to the floor, Harry swore he saw some ice forming below it but knew it was from the clouds and not a busted window, they were unbreakable and for good reason, being at the very bottom of the lake and all. But that didn't explain why it was so cold, the windows should have been charmed to keep the inside of the dorm warm like all the stones. He watched as Riddle went over to the stairs to the boys dorm, placing his hand against the stone at the side of the entrance and quickly bringing it away with a shout.

"The stones here a _freezing_!" he shouted before darting up the stairs, most likely to check out the rooms, Harry hoped it was only a problem with the common room and waited shivering for Riddles return, he didn't have to wait long thankfully, "All the rooms are freezing too, even the beds!"

"What?! But where are we going to sleep?!"

"I don't know, we should go find Professor Slughorn and get him to fix this, the heating charms must have failed."

"Do you think he's still at the feast?" Harry asked, following Riddle out and back down the hallways, he certainly wasn't going to wait in there, he would be an icicle by the time they got back.

"No, he's probably retired for the chance to give himself alcohol poisoning." the answer made Harry giggle, walking fast they reached the Professors office quickly, Riddle knocked and skimmed his hand over himself quickly, likely attempting to make sure he looked good still, when his hand brushed the crown still on his head he made an odd squeaking sound in the back of his throat and quickly grabbed it, stuffing it in his cloak pocket and shooting a glare at Harry who was grinning, he had fully intended not to do anything about the crown in the hopes of Slughorn seeing it. The door was answered then by the walrus-like man, a drink in his hand.

"Oh! Riddle its you, and Potter." Harry guessed the professor only knew his name due to his good test results.

"Professor, so sorry to call on you after dinner but there seems to be a problem we need your assistance with, the heating charms on the Slytherin common room and dorms seems to have failed and it's rather cold down there." despite the blurry look in his eyes it seemed the professor had managed to follow Riddles words and after a moment to comprehend them he replied,

"Oh! Well that's no good! No good at all! Come! Show me!" He said, leaning over slightly, Harry guessed to place his drink down, and then exiting the office, the three then quickly made their way back to the dorm, the professor exclaiming loudly as he walked in and was hit by the same wave of cold. He took a moment to look around before walking over to a wall and touching it, feeling for cold, "Oh! This is no good! I'll have to summon Headmaster Dippet and probably Dumbledore too, yes best to." He turned to the two students, "You two head up to your rooms and change into your nightwear, and pack anything you might need overnight, you can't possibly stay here you'd catch your deaths!"

They hopped up the stairs, Harry reaching his room first as he was a year lower but Riddle stopped him before he could enter.

"Use a heating charm," He said, "On your feet, so you don't catch cold."

"Yeah yeah, I know how to do a simple heating charm... You too." with a nod Riddle ascended to his own dorm.

Harry dressed into his dark blue pajamas quickly, not wanting to chance freezing his tits off, and stuffed a few books in his bag as well as his day clothes for the next morning. When he exited again Riddle was coming down the steps as well, dressed in simple, light coloured pajamas and carrying his own bag stuffed full of books and things, they got back down into the common room and saw Dippet and Dumbledore had gotten there already and were inspecting the room.

"Ah! There you two are!" Slughorn spotted them and quickly pushed them towards the exit, "I'll just show these two to there room tonight!" He called back to the headmaster and deputy, it was clear he would rather leave the freezing room as fast as possible too.

"Wait, did you say room? As in one? To share?" Harry asked.

"Yes, there's only one on such short notice, with only one bed too, but its big enough and you're both boys, you can bear it for one night, you're lucky not to be sleeping in the great hall." he pushed them down the corridor, getting closer to the ground level. Harry blushed scarlet at the thought of not only sharing a room with Riddle but a _bed_. He glanced over and noticed Riddle seemed to be rather uncomfortable about it too, but he wasn't blushing, or at least he didn't look to be, one could never tell when cold tinted everyone's cheeks rosy.

They got to a room on the first level of the dungeon and Slughorn fiddled with the key for it for a minute before it unlocked with an 'Aha!' and the two got pushed in, the bed inside was indeed rather large, enough room that the two could stay on opposite sides and not touch as long as they didn't move towards the center in their sleep. The room was pretty plain other than that, it had a single wardrobe, dresser, small drawers on each side of the bed, a desk with a plain chair, and a vanity all in dark wood but the walls were just dark, bare, smooth stone.

"Well that should do you for the night!" Slughorn exclaimed and quickly left again, leaving them the key to the room. The two boys stood there for a moment, having been left alone together in the room, before Riddle cleared his throat.

"Well, may as well get comfortable, it is only for one night, but if you try anything I will hex you to oblivion Potter." with that he walked over to the bed, placing his bag against the small drawer and sitting down on the bed, which had a rather plush mattress. Harry moved over to the other side, placing his own bag down and pulling a book out before getting under the blankets and attempting to get comfortable and ignoring the fact that Riddle was slipping into the bed on the other side. _Just don't think about it Harry! Bad Harry! You can't think that way, you_ shouldn't _think that way! Bad! Bad!_

They ended up reading in silence for a while before getting tired enough to put their books away and lay down properly, their backs to each other and Harry's face reddening again without the distraction of words on paper. Riddle used his wand to wordlessly put out the light and the two were left alone with nothing but the sound of each others uneven breathing and awkward shuffling in attempt to get comfortable without bothering the other.

They were in for a long night, but at least it was warm.

 

 

_To be continued..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm this one was longer than the rest... one more and the other students should be getting back to us. Hazzah! The title should now make sense!   
> Yeah Harry's in some deep de-ni-a _(na)_ l.


	5. Waking on the Wrong Side of the Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot of things that don't make sense atm will hopefully make sense in future chapters, yay for foreshadowing!

Harry slowly awoke the next morning wrapped in warmth and completely comfortable... except for that _thing_ poking him in the bladder... he cracked his eyes open to find his vision taken up by the most gorgeous face he'd ever seen and instantly felt his face heat up to the point he thought he might combust. Tom Riddle's arms were wrapped around him and Harry could guess that that was no knee poking into him. It seemed they had gravitated towards each other during the night and had gone from being on opposite sides of the bed to hugging in the center. He vaguely registered his own arms being wrapped around Riddle the same way, and that he might be returning the favour downstairs, before Riddle's eyes snapped open and they were thrown away from each other, the blankets tossed about as they flew apart like some reverse magnetic reaction, thankfully neither falling off the spacious bed.

"What the hell Potter!?" Riddle yelled, sitting himself up on the mattress.

"Didn't know you were a hugger Riddle." Harry spat back, doing his best to stop his blushing, at least Riddle seemed to be blushing slightly too, he would mistake it for embarrassment. His attempts to lessen his blush failed completely when he saw the bulge in Riddle's loose pajama pants and he was sure his face was on fire now. This was it, this was how he would die, death by Riddle's man-bulge. During this mind-blank it seemed Riddle had gotten up and started undressing out of his pajamas, pulling out his day clothes from his bag, Harry wondered if it was possible to get heat stroke in the middle of winter. He quickly got up and followed suit, totally not catching glimpses of Riddle's near-naked body as he undressed himself. _Ignore the smoking hot body Harry, Ignore it..._

"Hopefully the dorm will be fixed now and we won't have to do this ever again." Riddle stated, Harry was sure it was meant to be reassuring but he felt his heart drop, being held in those firm arms felt so right. _But it shouldn't!_ He told himself, _Forget about it!_ He watched as Riddle tended to his hair in the vanity mirror and he finished pulling on a jumper, his own hair would never lay flat and it wasn't much point in trying but he still wandered over to the mirror to attempt to pat it down, it immediately flipped back up causing Riddle to laugh at him.

"Well we're both dressed so lets get out of here and see if the great hall is less of a travesty than yesterday." Riddle laughed and walked over to his open bag, Harry nodded and spotted a glint of something shiny in the bag and suddenly darted forwards, plucking it out and holding it up with a cheeky grin.

"Not quite fully dressed yet oh mighty king of snakes." Harry teased, holding out the crown.

"Ah, of course, can't have you thinking I'm anything less than a ruler." Tom replied smugly, taking the crown and placing it atop his head with a shit-eating grin. The two grabbed their bags and left the room behind, Riddle locking it with the key Slughorn had given them, and laughed between themselves as they made their way down the hall. The dungeon corridor didn't seem as cold as the previous night so Harry guessed that the dorm must have had the heating charms replaced, well at least he wouldn't have to fear his face turning into a miniature replica of the sun.

"More like anything less than a prat." Harry bit back jokingly, "Are you going to keep that on all day? Or should I magically glue it to your head?"

"As if I wouldn't know the counter to such a childish charm," Riddle laughed, "And no, I won't. I do have a reputation to uphold after all."

"Right, keeping all the teachers under your perfect prat-y control." After a few seconds of thought he added, "Except for Dumbledore. He doesn't seem to like you at all."

"Or any Slytherins." Riddle agreed.

"Yeah, I mean, I don't even like you and he still gives me detention if I so much as look out the window in class." Harry complained lightly. "But he certainly does seem to have something against you, more so than other Slytherins... So tell me, what kind of sneaky plans are you formulating that he is seeing right through?" Harry asked, only half jokingly.

"Oh, just the usual," Tom replied with a grin, looking ahead as the two walked down the dark corridor, "Get the students and teachers on my side, believing I am a saint and bowing to my every will, passing every class with the highest grades Hogwarts has ever seen, and then to charm a hoard of puffskeins to tap dance around the castle under engorgement charms." At first Harry had thought Riddle was actually sharing some super secretive plan with him, causing his overly paranoid mind to momentarily go into overdrive, before having to do a double take to register what Riddle had just told him. He then burst out laughing at the mental image of giant, fluffy, yellow things dancing about the castle, disrupting classes and generally causing a scene. "Glad you are amused." Riddle commented, slowing down a little as Harry's laughter impaired his pace.

"That's ridiculous." Harry stated through his laughter, fighting it down to more of a coughing, _Who knew Riddle had a sense of humour? Dammit, he's so perf- No, no, don't finish that thought Harry!_ "I have a better idea!" Harry announced, his fit of laughter over and his ability to walk down the hall normally returned, "Instead of giant puffskeins dancing about the halls instead you could charm them into tap dancing all the way into Dumbledore's office and making off with his lemon drops!" Riddle laughed at that, a laugh that was a bit less sophisticated in tune than usual which made Harry's grin spread wider, "And instead of engorged puffskeins you could just get a couple of goats!" Harry laughed.

"Fitting." Riddle commented, humour lacing every syllable, but Harry didn't put too much notice into it, he was staring at the ground in front of his moving feet, his mind was throwing idea's at him like crazy.

"We should do it." Riddle raised an eyebrow at him but remained silent, "We should charm some goats to steal Dumbledore's sweets." Harry elaborated, "Ya'know we have this whole castle to ourselves basically, we could do just about anything and only have to worry about the few teachers or tattle-tale ghosts and paintings getting us into trouble, why not take advantage of that fact?" He said looking up at Riddle. "We could pull a huge prank on the students when they come back." Harry suggested, "We are both at the top of the marks in class, together we could come up with something truly memorable."

"I see your point but I did say I have a reputation to uphold, I will not be ruining it simply to have some goats make off with Dumbledore's cavity-makers."

"I could take the fall for it." Harry suggested, having two of the most brilliant minds in Hogwarts put together a prank over the days they had left until the students returned was too good to pass up. Riddle stopped abruptly and stared at Harry with a strange expression. "What?" Harry asked, stopping a few steps ahead and turning back to him.

"You would do that?" Riddle asked, his eyes seemingly trying to bore into Harry's soul, "Why? What do you want from it?"

"Uh, the opportunity to pull a massive prank on the entirety of the school? And to take credit for all of it? That is enough 'repayment' for me." Harry laughed a bit but was feeling slightly uncomfortable under Riddles stare, he had all those friends of his, had they never done something like this before? Had they never taken a fall for one another? Riddle seemed to asses him for a moment before giving a slight nod.

"Alright, we can play a little prank on the entire school populace, but if you don't keep your word I will make sure there is no way anyone would believe you over myself and that you will pay dearly for it." Knowing the type of people Riddle sometimes kept in his company Harry had no doubts about the threat so he simply nodded. "Good. For a prank this size I suggest we use different types of magics, not just charms, there are plenty of potions and transfiguration's that are easy to reverse with humorous results, and we can even use your idea of the tap dancing goats, if we can get some goats."

"Er, can you handle the potions?" Harry asked with a slight grimace.

"I thought you got good grades in potions?"

"I do, but that doesn't mean I like it, I don't have the concentration for making potions and force myself to do so in class, I'd rather avoid mixing them if I can." Harry explained.

"Alright, I will make the potions, and get my hands on some goats, you handle the charms and transfiguration's then." Riddle agreed.

"Deal. We should check out the library and get a list of all the spells and potions we could use, I know a few books with really good prank spells in them." At Riddle's raised eyebrow he explained, "I do not just read books that fit the curriculum, how do you think I found so many prank spells in the past?" Riddle merely smiled in acknowledgement, "Where are you going to get goats?" Harry wondered suddenly.

"Oh I have my ways, I'm sure I can work something out, if not then we could just transfigure some other animal into a goat temporarily."

"Right. So breakfast and then the library?"

"Breakfast and then the library."

The two continued the walk in relative silence, both thinking over the spells they would be using and how best to go about this so that it left a good impression on everyone and had the school talking about it for days, possibly even weeks, to come. Or at least that's what they were partly thinking on, Harry couldn't shake the disappointment that soon the holiday would be over and everyone would be back, meaning Riddle would be hanging out with his own friends again and go back to ignoring Harry and acting as if he didn't exist. Harry's chest hurt.

 

 

_To be continued..._


	6. Light Up the Fire In Your Heart

They spent the last few days of the holiday either working on prank spells and potions, setting them up or searching the library for more ammo. Harry was anticipating the return of the students to be able to pull such a huge prank and take all of the credit for it but he was also dreading it as it would mean the end of having Riddle's attention on him, despite him telling himself it was for the better and that he should not want to have his attention.

All too soon the students were arriving on the train and the teachers were awaiting them in the great hall, Tom had gone to greet the students coming in, sure to make his presence known to them so he would not be blamed for the events soon to come.

Tom had greeted his acquaintances as they got out of their carriage and proceeded to walk with them back up to the castle as they as scrambled to tell him of their holidays and what their overly-rich families had done to out do each other this year. Abraxas Malfoy was the loudest as usual, attempting to hog Tom's attention all to himself. As they approached the castle doors Tom wondered just how soon the events would start, he had already placed charms on himself to avoid being hit by any of them.

The students made it all the way in to the great hall, Tom noticed the lack of Potter anywhere, Headmaster Dipped made his welcome-back speech and the feast began, as they all ate Tom wondered what was keeping Harry. Tom spent the entirety of dinner trying to see if Potter was in the hall somewhere, perhaps he had chickened out, but he couldn't find him. He only half listened to conversations between his fellow snakes and soon enough dessert was served and yet there had not been a single sign of mischief.

Then it started. Tom heard the clicking of magic, like a firework being lit, and soon the hall was sent in chaos as potions and prank-objects of all sorts started hailing from the enchanted ceiling, the results were numerous clouds of colourful smoke, students plastered in paint-like substances and a few already sprouting animal ears, horns and more embarrassing changes. Fireworks were shot off, taking the shape of all sorts of creatures and chasing a few students about, any student attempting to escape back through the door into the castle found their hair and clothes changed in the most dreadfully bright, clashing colours.

The purebloods in particular screeched about having their perfect clothes and looks ruined, Tom quite enjoyed seeing them scurry about like trapped animals and couldn't help but chuckle as Abraxas' hair turned bright pink and green when a potion landed on him from above, the chuckling increased as the pureblood screamed about how his _perfect_ hair was ruined _forever._

Just when there was so much going on in the hall that Tom was having trouble keeping track of it the doors to the great hall burst open and twelve charmed goats in two lines came tap-dancing in on their hind legs, throwing sherbet lemons and confetti about at the stunned and panicking students, the procession made its way up to the teachers table stopping in front of Dumbledore, two goats then stole the pavlova in front of Dumbledore and the procession of goats made their way back towards the doors, leaving a shocked Dumbledore chuckling at the table.

As the goats neared the doors the potions and objects seemed to finally be running out, only a few left to drop down randomly on unsuspecting students. Headmaster Dippet stood up from his chair, Tom wasn't sure if he was livid or simply red-faced from laughing too much, "Who is responsible for this?" he called out over the hall, his answer came when the goats finally left the hall, doors shutting behind them, and none other than Harry James Potter gently fell from beyond the enchantment on the halls ceiling, using a spell to lighten his fall, and gave a dramatic, sweeping bow. Tom noticed two students cackling and cheering from the Hufflepuff table, Potter's friends. Dippet seemed shocked, "Only you?" he asked Potter.

"Only me." Potter assured, and Tom was a little shocked at that, he had actually kept his promise, he hadn't dragged Tom down with him despite him being equally guilty.

"Well, amusing as I am sure it was you will still need to serve detention for this." Potter didn't complain at all, merely waited patiently for his judgement. "You will clean up this mess you created of the great hall and serve two weeks detention with your head of house, Professor Slughorn."

"Fair." Potter stated and quite happily _skipped_ over to the Slytherin table and started digging into a pudding that had survived the chaos, earning him dirty glares from many of the table, both for his prank and how uncouth he was.

The feast ended not soon after and the students were allowed to head off to bed, many either talking excitedly over the events and some grumbling about it. Tom noticed Potter had stayed behind, no doubt he would have to get a start on cleaning up before curfew.

 

* * *

 

Harry waved goodbye as Monica and Sam left the Hall, he would talk to them tomorrow about their holidays and study plans. The caretaker came over simply to hand Harry a bucket, mop and various other instruments for cleaning the hall and left him to it. As Harry set to work cleaning up his mess he was glad that these particular potions seemed easy to scrub up, the paint-like substances were a little harder but Harry supposed he was accustomed to helping clean his house the muggle way enough that it didn't bother him.

As he worked his mind wandered, he thought back over the events that had transpired between himself and Riddle over the holidays, he knew he really shouldn't be as attracted to Riddle as he was, even if he could openly be in love with Riddle they had already covered the fact that he was asexual, or at least Harry had researched it up and Riddle didn't openly accept or deny it. Maybe if he did stop suspecting Riddle of suspicious behavior he would turn his sights on some pretty girl he could fall in love with.

While leaning down to put more force behind mopping up a particularly nasty stain made up of the paint-like substance that had seemingly mixed in with the colourful dust from the smoke bombs a dark flash descended from his scarf and swung about below him, it was the starry cat statuette, he had put it on a small rope of twine to make it into a necklace during his time coming up with the pranks. Harry blushed slightly remembering that awkward night sharing a bed with Riddle. How hopeless he was. He quickly shoved the necklace back under this scarf and jumper and set back to work, ignoring the grumbling of his stomach from having missed a proper dinner to play out his pranks.

He was taking a momentary break after finally scrubbing up the difficult puddle when he heard the door to the hall open, he jumped up quickly, ready to explain that he was only resting for a moment when lo and behold it was Riddle that had entered the hall, he seemed to be carrying a platter and the scent of chicken pervaded Harry's nose.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked, trying to hide his hunger in the face of such a delectable meal, "It's almost time for curfew."

"Yes it is. But I am a prefect so that doesn't affect me, you however it does." Riddle stated approaching him, suddenly he looked a bit unsure but Harry could hardly know for sure when it came to Riddle, "I brought you this." Riddle stated holding out the chicken, "Why did you wait until dessert to start?" Riddle stated it as if it was a foolish thing to do.

"I needed to wait until there were sweets to be able to have the goats nick them from Dumbledore." Harry replied, his face stuffed with the chicken he had wasted no time in digging into.

Riddle made a noise at his lack of decorum. Time went by with neither of them talking, the only noise to break the silence being the sounds of chicken being devoured hungrily.

"Thank you."

The sound was so quiet Harry almost missed it, he took a moment to look at Riddle, the older boy wasn't meeting his eye.

"Is it really so strange? To have a friend take the fall for you?"

As if the word was being tested on foreign lips, "Friend?" _Oh man did I just say I was his friend?_

"That's what you call your lackeys, though it's clear that isn't what they really are." Harry didn't think his guess at them never taking falls for each other was really true.

Riddle seemed to just stare at him for a moment, Harry wished he would show some sort of emotion to give away what he might be thinking, instead "You should head to bed." was all that was said by the older boy before he turned around and left the hall.

Harry did that, knowing the house elves would take care of the plate of chicken, he went to wash his hands and face and headed to bed, wondering just what Riddle might think of him, though he knew it was a subject he shouldn't pursue.

 

 

_To be continued..._


	7. Among Books and Quidditch Pitches

As students had come back on a weekend Harry spent the entire day before classes cleaning up the Great Hall, students came and went for food, watching Harry work and some laughing at him, others praised him on his pranks, stating how much time and effort he must have put into it and that he did it all alone was amazing to them, Harry merely smiled and continued his work.

Sam and Monica set up the work they hadn't finished over break on a table in the hall and moved when Harry's cleaning took him too far and so that they spent the day like that, Harry knew they would offer to help him clean up if they had not been told by a professor not to. As they worked they would ask Harry for help to explain things they didn't understand as he was the bookworm among them, he would do so while cleaning and actually found he explained things better when his hands where busy.

They told Harry about their breaks, the gifts they got and how happy they were to see their families. Sam had a younger sister who wasn't at Hogwarts yet and relayed stories about their antics, playing in the snow and hiding around the house, it was very clear how fond Sam was of his baby sister. Monica was an only child but even she had stories to tell about a Ravenclaw girl she had met on the Quidditch field and been mailing over the holidays, apparently she was now in a relationship with her, Harry and Sam congratulated her and only teased her a little bit, they swear, they also made her promise to introduce them to her.

By the time dinner was around the corner the hall was finally cleaned of the remnants of Harry's prank and he could finally sit down with his friends, he had already finished his work during the break of which he was glad for as it had taken so long to clean the vast room. The friends talked and joked around and when they finally asked about Harry's break he simply told them he had spent the entire time doing his work and then coming up with his prank stuff, very clearly leaving out any parts to do with Riddle knowing that Monica would only tease him for it. She did tease him for 'being such a boring bookworm' but Harry figured that was better than her finding out he and Riddle had shared a bed and ended up in such an... awkward position, his face still heated up just thinking about it.

When it was time for dinner Harry had to move back to the Slytherin table, his friends waved to him as he went. There were plenty of spaces on the table still and he sat down away from the people already sitting in their established groups and waited for the other students to pile in and for dinner to start.

He noticed when Riddle walked in with his group of lackeys, Riddle did not deign to notice him though and simply sat at the table further down, as if Harry did not exist, Harry tried to convince himself that it wasn't such a big deal and that that was normal behavior between them and he shouldn't want Riddles attention or acknowledgement anyway. However he didn't seem to be as lucky with Riddle's followers, the group was so large that they quickly filled up the space around Riddle and reached where Harry was sitting, and just his luck that Abraxas had to sit next to him, he knew the blonde would still be fuming about having his hair changed to pink and green, despite the fact that it was back to normal already.

Soon the hall was filled with students and the plates stuffed with food, as the sound of clinking utensils and conversation filled the hall Harry loaded his plate with chicken, potatoes, peas and gravy, he then dug into the food with far less manners than the uptight bunch around him, his behavior would have earned him a few glares at least but after so many years it seemed his house had just gotten accustomed to ignoring him, usually.

Just as Harry finished eating a huge mouthful of his dinner he received a poke in the side, swallowing and not bothering to hide his sigh he turned to Malfoy and asked bluntly, "What do you want Abrax- _ass_?"

Malfoy sneered before continuing, "Did you really come up with all those pranks yourself?"

Harry had been thinking Malfoy would chew him out about the hair incident so the question took him off guard momentarily, "Yeah, I didn't exactly have any other students around to help me out with it." Harry stated, "Besides, I'm a one-man show Malfoy, you should know this by know." Harry hoped that Malfoy didn't suspect Riddle being involved, though he reasoned with himself that that would be silly as most people thought he and Riddle hated each other.

Malfoy leaned over the table a little bit, propping his elbow on the table and resting his chin on it, some of his silvery blond hair fell over his shoulder, almost brushing the table, "Tell me about how you found so many interesting pranks and how you set them up." Malfoy prompted with an odd look in his eye.

Harry was only getting more and more confused at this point, Malfoy had always been one of his biggest rivals since he was sorted into the snake house, yet here he was being friendly and asking things? Trying to have a proper conversation without insulting Harry? Odd. He figured Malfoy would probably have some reason behind asking and being so polite, he decided to tell him about it though, leaving out the parts with Riddle of course and making it seem like he had done all the work.

* * *

 

The next day saw the return of classes to their usual schedule, students stopped talking about the prank they returned too and instead turned their attention to exams and the latest gossip. The classes for the day had ended and Harry was meeting up with Sam and Monica at their usual study spot in the library, honestly the only reason Sam and Harry were able to get Monica to sit down quietly for so long was because they always sneaked treats into the library for her. Right now Harry had a pocket full of chocolate frogs and another stuffed with Fizzy Wizzies.

He made his way up the moving staircase and reached the library, they usually always had the same spot to sit at, in a quiet corner of the library where they were least likely to be seen or bothered so he made his way over to it and found only Sam had made it there before him, most likely because he had a class close to the library.

He sat down and started taking books, parchment and quills out from his bag, "Wheres Moni?" he asked Sam.

"Dunno, I saw her running through the halls like a mad woman, nothing unusual, and tried to remind her we were going to meet here but she was so fast, I don't know where she was heading."

Harry merely shrugged, tossing a frog at Sam, and the two began work without her.

It wasn't long before footsteps sounded a few bookcases away and Monica showed up, she was dragging someone behind her and Harry could only guess who, the girl was a Ravenclaw and had very dark skin but eyes to match her house colours, she was very thin and tall with hair that hung down in a wavy fashion, she seemed very flustered to have been dragged all the way here by Monica.

"Now you know she's real." was all Monica stated by way of greeting, crossing her arms and posing in a victorious stance.

Sam chuckled, "Are you going to tell us who she is at least?" the next he directed at the Ravenclaw girl, "Hi, my name is Sam."

The girl was still obviously very shy and Harry wondered just how she and Monica became close enough to actually be in a relationship, then again she was his friend so he guessed it wasn't too far fetched. "I'm Harry." He greeted her, "Are you going to study with us?"

"Um, yes," She replied in a shaky voice, "My name is Violet."

"Pleasure to meet you Violet." Sam responded, Harry nodding his agreement, she seemed a nice enough person. Monica didn't bother to walk around the couch in front of her and instead merely slipped over the back to take a seat, Violet made the effort to walk around and sit next to her. "You said you met on the Quidditch pitch, does Violet play?"

"Yep." Monica replied, munching on a chocolate frog she had snatched up from the table as she pulled her work out of her bag, "She plays a chaser for the Ravenclaw team." It made a bit more sense then, since Monica played as a keeper for Hufflepuff, they had something in common then at least. "Vi is really quite the talker once you get her going." Monica promised.

Once the bunch had all of their work ready they set to it, occasionally passing around sweets, making small talk and getting help with things they got stuck on. It turned out that Violet was a year younger than them and did indeed hold good conversations once she warmed up to people and Harry could see her quickly becoming part of their group.

 

 

_To be Continued..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much going on here, just a tiny bit of plot and you get to meet Monica's new girlfriend, Vi probably wont be a huge part of the story but she will show up every now and then just like Sam and Moni.


	8. Parchment Panic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In case people still haven't gotten it, Harry is VERY paranoid and daft in this story, there's no real reason why, he just simply is like that.
> 
> Uh more plot building? Honestly I knew this would be the long and boring stretch before summer nears on them, so bear with me aight.

Harry found he quite enjoyed talking to the new member of their group, Violet proved to be quite entertaining, intelligent and also helpful in dragging Monica to study session. He discovered that Violet also lived only with her father, her parents marriage had fallen through so they split up, she still visited her mother regularly though and had a good relationship with both parents. The conversation reminded Harry of his own relationship with his father and the letter he had gotten from his father over the yule break, he still had yet to burn the thing, he vowed to do so as soon as he got to his dorm later that night.

They were currently finishing up their latest assignments, Monica talking about Quidditch and the matches coming up and Sam was checking out a book he had found after finishing his papers. Soon enough it was time for dinner so the group packed up and headed down to the Great Hall together, Harry and Violet waved goodbye to Sam and Monica as they split up to their own respective tables.

Just was Harry's luck that he ended up with Riddle's group squashed up next to him again, and this time Malfoy was in front of him rather than next to him and seemingly wanting to chat again. Harry wasn't buying it, the git _had_ to be up to something. Throughout dinner he did his best to derail any and all conversation with Malfoy as well as adding in as many insults as he could, apparently the blond wasn't swayed though, _he must really want something from me, especially with all the sweet talking, since when does he complement me? Or anyone for that matter._

Harry was glad by the time dinner ended to finally be able to get away from Malfoy and his prying, he practically sprinted down to the common room and up to his dorm, being one of the first back from dinner and it not being late yet the room was empty of his mundane dorm mates. Harry quickly dug into his bag looking for his letter from his father, only after turning out the contents of his bag onto his bed did he realize that the letter obviously wasn't there, he tried his trunk next, quickly tossing items about the room that weren't likely to break. It wasn't there either. Harry looked around the dorm next, in side tables and dressers but the offending parchment was no where to be found. Could he have lost it somewhere in the castle? Perhaps during a class... But then someone would find and read it! It was signed with his last name and everything!

After fighting off a small panic attack Harry finally decided that it was no use, the castle was too large with too many people in it for him to track down the letter to destroy it, his only hope was that it was picked up and thrown out by the house elves, better than having a student find it. Reluctantly he cleaned up the mess he had made, shoving his items haphazardly into his trunk and bag, he then decided he may as well take a book down to the common room and see if there were any comfortable chairs in any dark, secluded corners left for him to take.

Harry managed to find a corner with empty plush chairs, not surprising considering many students were probably testing their luck by staying out as late as they could, he sat down and got to reading. Unfortunately for him though his mind kept wandering to the missing letter, he really didn't need anyone bringing up questions about the lack of any proper well wishes in it. Harry's relationship with his father had always been rather strained, what with their differing opinions on his mother, his lack of religious faith and then his magic to top it all off, things weren't all sunshine and rainbows, but nobody needed to _know_ that.

Harry was again distracted from his reading when he noticed Riddle's group, in their usual place taking up all the seats and tables closest to the fireplace, most likely they were plotting world domination. Probably. Harry wondered what it would be like to be an orphan like Riddle, surely he was better of having at least one parent no matter their differences and clashes? Harry's eyes roamed from Riddle to the blond seated on a couch nearest to Riddle, he thought over the conversations the boy had attempted to make with him recently, trying to figure out just what he wanted from him, as he was lost in thought the blond seemed to have noticed the staring and turned his head to him and _winked_. A full blown wink, shitty grin and all. Just what was Malfoy getting at?

Harry turned back to his book, shaking these incessant thoughts from his head and attempted to pay attention to what he was reading. He could figure out Malfoy and what Riddle was plotting some other time.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The next few weeks continued on the same line, Harry never did find his letter, he continued to keep an eye on Riddle and his group of friends, _purely_ to discover what heinous plans they were up to he would insist, and Malfoy kept attempting to be friendly with him, which he wasn't buying at all. He still remembered how Malfoy took to him, the upstart mudblood that couldn't keep his mouth shut, when he first started Hogwarts, he wasn't about to forget all the tricks and bullying, _I mean they locked me in a cupboard all day until Slughorn found me, I didn't even know how to do a simple unlocking spell, let alone get out of the crate they had stuffed me in._

At that time Malfoy had been the biggest problem to Harry at Hogwarts, that soon changed though when Riddle suddenly became more and more popular among the other students and Malfoy seemingly got bored of tormenting Harry and found better things to put his time into, _such as plotting to take over the magical world_ , thus he only bothered to 'put Harry in his place' every so often. Currently Malfoy was in his last year at Hogwarts, you wouldn't think him a year older than Riddle with the way he hung to the others every word.

Yes, Harry's distaste of his fellow snakes started early, _no thanks to their warm welcome._

Yet still Malfoy couldn't take a hint that Harry did not in fact want to talk to him. Usually about the blond too, the git. And yet he still persisted in attempting to drag Harry into conversation, perhaps he was trying to convert him into a Riddle-boot-licker? Not happening. _Though I wouldn't mind li- don't finish that thought Harry!_

Currently Harry was walking through the halls, on his way to the Quidditch pitch as there was a game on, Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw, and _no_ Sam and Harry had _not_ made gibes at Monica and Violet about being on opposing sides and positions. They swear. Harry was a bit late for the game, he had gotten sidetracked with a book in his dorm and only noticed the time a little late, though the game wouldn't start yet Harry usually got there in time to get a good seat to watch and cheer for Monica, though he supposed he would be cheering for both sides now.

Sure enough when Harry reached the Quidditch field and ascended the stairs up to the Slytherin stands it was already packed full of students, he looked around attempted to find an empty seat, his eyes landing on Malfoy who was gesturing to him, there was a spare seat next to him. Harry looked around in hopes of finding another empty seat to avoid being forced next to the clingy git but he was out of luck. How usual. He made his way over to Malfoy, icily thanked him for saving him a seat and set his attentions on the game.

Harry watched as the game started and Violet shot off after the Quaffle, Monica was guarding the goals that Violet would be attacking with said ball. Harry quite enjoyed Quidditch, he didn't have a broom of his own as his father had never deigned to buy him one or give him enough money that he could get one himself and even if he had tried for the Slytherin team he wasn't exactly very popular and even with the right skill that counted for something as well when it came to getting on a team.

As the game progressed Harry realized Malfoy had been attempting to talk to him but he was both not listening, not caring and the cheers and jibes of the crowd were drowning him out. Though it seemed Malfoy wasn't going to be put off so easily, grabbing a letter from his robe he shoved it at Harry, Harry had a moment of panic thinking that maybe the seventh year had found his fathers letter but it turned out to simply be from the student himself. To Harry. Harry quickly opened the unsealed letter and took the parchment out to read it,

 

_Potter_

 

_Meet me under the stands after the game._

 

_Your senior,_

_Abraxas Malfoy._

 

Harry shot him a questioning look but Malfoy was, for once, no longer paying attention to Harry. _Why would he want to meet me after the game? Perhaps this has to do with his being so annoying lately? Maybe he isn't so loyal to Riddle and has information to talk about?_ Harry wasn't comfortable meeting the older boy in private knowing their past experiences but he wasn't about to miss a chance to get information on Riddle. Silently he agreed to meet the boy after the match.

Harry attempted to keep his mind on the game his friends were playing in but it kept wandering off to think about what Malfoy would talk to him about later. He suddenly couldn't wait for the game to end.

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	9. Love Won't Thaw, Desire Unheated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The most gittish and self entitled of blondes.

The game ended in a win for Ravenclaw and the players descended back to the ground to the cheers and boo's of students watching. Harry watched as Monica rushed over to Violet after landing, there were gasps in the audience who obviously expected the usual after-game fights, the gasps sounded again though when Monica pulled Violet in for a kiss in front of the entire school. Harry couldn't help giggling at his short friends antics, of course Monica would be a bit sore from losing but she never got in a huff over it, she was also the kind to go and put on a show to shock the whole school, typical.

As the students filed down the stairs and onto the ground sodden ground to head back to the castle Harry rushed around to a part of the stands where he could get past the house-coloured fabrics and under the wooden structure. Below the stadium was still very cold, the wind battering the materials hanging to the wooden frame, some puddles of melted snow and rainfall had made it underneath the structure, Harry hoped this wouldn't take too long so he could retreat to a warmer place soon. He stood in the corner just across from where he had entered, hoping he might find a slightly warmer spot between the frame and fabrics, there he waited for Malfoy, wondering a million things he might be told by the elder and watching his breath billow out in clouds every so often.

He wasn't waiting long before the fabrics he had entered through rippled and Malfoy strode in, looking as cocky as ever, he didn't stop until he was uncomfortably close to Harry, unfortunately Harry's earlier choice to seek haven in the corner was a poor one. _Doesn't the git understand personal space?_

Not wanting to take longer than he had to alone with the elder, "Alright, spill the beans Malfoy you brought me here for a reason."

"My, straight to the point aren't you Potter? If I knew you were so eager I would have brought lube." That had Harry very confused, what did he need lube for? Was he going to show Harry something that required it? Perhaps that's why they were meeting at the pitch right after a game, all the equipment would be easy to access. Malfoy decided to break his confused silence, "You know I'm aware I am a sight to behold but your silence is bothering me."

Harry shook out of his stupor and bit back, "What are you getting at Malfoy? Why did you bring me here and why would we need lube?"

Malfoy stared at him with raised eyebrows in a way most undignified, by the pure-bloods standards anyway, and Harry wished he had a camera to blackmail him with it later, "You really are that daft?"

"Don't insult me Malfoy, you're the one who brought me down here so tell me why so I can leave your blasted presence faster."

Malfoy gave a long-suffering sigh before explaining, "Potter I have been hitting on you since term started and it's all gone over your messy little head hasn't it?"

"I-... What?" Was all Harry managed. Had Malfoy been flirting with him? Abraxas Malfoy, heir of his wealthy, pure-blooded, muggle-hating family? Harry thought back over their conversations and begun to realize the insane amounts of compliments and things Malfoy had said to him that he found odd and misplaced in their conversations at the time. Harry could already feel his face heating up in embarrassment at the realization that Malfoy had indeed been flirting and it went right over his head. _Dangit._ So that meant that Malfoy didn't have anything to show to Harry at all, he wasn't giving away Riddle' secrets at all, he just wanted to... to what? "Why exactly did you bring me here Malfoy?"

"Isn't that obvious? To see if my flirting has payed off for me."

"Which means?"

"You really are a daft son of a bitch Potter."

"Hey don't insult my mother Malfoy!" _How dare he, he didn't even know her._ Malfoy apparently couldn't care less though and had closed the space between them even more, leaving Harry's back pushed up against the wall and his head tilted to look up at the seventh year, damn his short stature! "You can't possibly mean you want... want to do... things... with me?"

Malfoy smirked down at him and Harry felt rather like a trapped animal, "Oh trust me there are plenty of things I'd love to do to you Potter."

Harry did his best to calm his breathing and then, cocking an eyebrow, "Really Malfoy? You've been a right git to me since I started here and that hasn't really changed much over the years. Then there's the fact that even if I did like you, which I _don't_ and frankly _never will_ , you are in your last year of school right now, pretty soon after you graduate I'm sure your parents will force you to marry some pureblood bint and you will have yourself a son to take on the family name and bloodlines. Any relationship between us would not last a couple months at best and I've no interest in being a bed warmer for a married man. So what you are after really is sex?"

"Perhaps in not so many words." Malfoy replied bluntly, he then started getting closer and it took Harry a second to realize the git was trying to kiss him, he shoved his hands at the older boys chest, attempting to get the blond away.

"What the hell Malfoy? Didn't I just say I don't fucking like you?"

"I'm sure I could change your mind on that. Just come to bed with me." Malfoy replied with a grin as he grabbed at Harry's flailing arms, pining them between their chests.

Harry stopped fighting and glared at the blond, "Sod off Malfoy!" he yelled at him angrily, no way was he kissing that bastard!

Before Malfoy could respond or continue his advances they were interrupted by the split in the fabric shifting to reveal the shape of another student. Riddle. Harry briefly wondered why the snake was even here. _Was he looking for his lap-dog? Probably_. How embarrassing to be caught by Riddle while he was squished up to Malfoy as the git held his arms between them, attempting to snog him. Then Harry noticed Riddles eyes, he looked positively pissed. _I wonder why? Because he is attempting to get in with 'mudblood scum' like me?_

"Malfoy." Riddles voice was icy and it sent chills through both Harry's and Malfoy's spines, if the shaking was anything to go by at least. "Is this where you have been? Attempting to molest confused children under the stadium?"

"My- Tom. I... uh." Harry caught the slip up and wondered just what Malfoy almost called Riddle, his attention was quickly brought back to the matter at hand though.

"Our friends are missing you in the common room."

Apparently that was all that was needed to make the blond release Harry and practically run out into the grounds, briefly sparing Riddle an apprehensive glance before he was gone in a swish of pale, long hair and dark robes.

Riddle only spared his apparent 'friend' a glance before he walked towards Harry, the fabric opening he had been holding open swishing closed behind him.

"Are you alright?" His voice was no longer icy and his eyes no longer held such a mean look.

"I'm fine." Harry muttered looking away, suddenly very aware that he was now alone with _Riddle_ under the stadium, "The git tricked me."

"He does that, though to be fair his flirting was quite painfully obvious."

Harry felt his face heating up again, so much for the cold weather, all he needed was snakes bothering him to keep warm, "To everyone but me apparently."

Harry felt cold fingers under his chin and allowed them to bring his face around to look back up at Riddle, and my was he tall, and what a strange expression, _I wonder what he's thinki-_ Harry's thought process stopped as lips brushed lightly over his own. Riddle was kissing him. _Was he? Was this kissing? It had to be, that's obvious even to someone as daft as me. But why? Why would Riddle kiss me?_ The action was over almost too soon, though Harry would never admit to thinking that, and Riddle was staring down at him again. Harry was sure his face was on fire, he must look so stupid right now.

"We should head up to the castle before it gets late." Was all Riddle said before he turned around and left, the statement eventually got through to Harry and he hurried after him, he stayed a few paces behind him, barely looking at the older boy and neither of them said anything as they headed back to the common room.

Harry felt more confused than ever now. Stupid snakes.

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	10. Let's Not Get Mushy

The days following Harry's first kiss he mostly kept to himself, he still stuck with his friends but he wasn't as drawn into their conversations as normal, his mind kept going back to that muddy field. Riddle had not made any indication to acknowledge that the kiss had even happened, he simply ignored Harry as he usually did, leaving him to question what the kiss meant or even if it meant anything at all, perhaps he had finally gone crazy and imagined it? But then he remembered the feel of Riddle's soft lips pressing against his ever so lightly and he knew his imagination could not come up with that.

Malfoy on the other hand was another matter, despite obviously having been in the shit with Riddle, if his sulking the days after the incident were anything to go by, he was still attempting to grab Harry's attention, and now that Harry knew what he was doing he was very uncomfortable whenever he saw the blond. He had already told the blond exactly what he thought of that and yet he still persisted, all for a few rounds in bed before he had to go off and get married. What a douche bag.

Of course Harry couldn't go too long like this without his friends noticing, it was Sam that spoke up first.

"Anything wrong Harry? You seem rather out of sorts lately."

Harry looked up from the work he had been attempting to do, 'attempting' because he kept zoning out and thinking of Riddle, more specifically his lips, "Yeah, I'm fine." He tried to give a smile but he just knew it came off awkwardly.

"You sure?" Monica wondered, he must have been doing badly if even she had noticed.

"Yes, I am fine!" he stated, he didn't want his friends prying, they didn't need to know what happened, _no one needs to know._

"Oh yeah? And how's Riddle?" She asked with a cheeky grin.

Harry spluttered at that, did she already know? She couldn't! "What? What do you mean by that?" He asked.

"Only that you have been staring at him even more than usual since winter break. Did something happen between you two?"

"No! Nothing happened! Why would anything happen between me and Riddle!?"

"Because you have a mega crush on him."

"I have told you a thousand time's I do not have a crush on Riddle! He's just... He's just always up to something!" That was his usual defense but for once he wasn't sure of it, sure he still suspected Riddle of being Satan spawn but that wasn't why he was staring lately.

"Are you sure? So _nothing_ happened between you two recently?" Monica pried.

"Nothing at all." Harry bit out.

"Shame." She went back to her book.

Harry just knew his friends probably weren't convinced, they really had his number on the matter, but that didn't mean he had to stop denying it, he certainly could never admit it.

"You know Harry..." Sam started after a moment of silence.

"Not this again..."

"No, not that, but have you not noticed that Riddle keeps looking at you too?"

Harry blushed, Riddle was watching him? He never noticed. Then again recent events had proved he really was a dunce at noticing these things. Harry tried to sound only vaguely interested, "Does he?"

"Yeah, I can't tell why though... It's like you are some interesting bug to him."

"What a nice thing to say, thanks Sam." Harry replied sarcastically, so Riddle thought he was a bug huh? Just like him.

"That's only how it looks to me," Sam defended, "It just looks like he is trying to figure you out, or something about you. But I may be wrong." He added the last part hastily.

"Let's just drop it." Harry said, though inside he wanted to know if Sam wasn't wrong and if Riddle really was watching him.

 

* * *

 

 

The whole school was filled with energy, with students rushing around and talking excitedly. Harry didn't exactly feel their enthusiasm, if the day caused him any feelings it was only one as if a black hole had opened up in his stomach. It was Valentines day. A dreadful time of the year that Harry usually didn't have such a problem with, he would do his best to ignore all the excited, love-struck students, and be satisfied that no one bothered to give him anything.

Despite being one of the smartest students in school not many people showed an interest in him, probably because he was always getting into trouble, either random occurrences or with the other Slytherins, people generally just kept on neutral grounds with him. Unlike Riddle who was certain to be returning to a bed filled with thoughtless gifts from his large fan-base.

It was because of Riddle that Harry felt like there was some animal trapped in his gut and trying to claw its way out, the older boy had kissed him after all, what if he did something today? Riddle never seemed to care for Valentines, merely accepting gifts and letters with a smile and promptly chucking out the letters and trading the gifts for more useful things he wanted. _But he had never seemed the type to randomly kiss me before so..._

Then there was the issue of Malfoy, he still had yet to get the message through his thick skull that Harry did not want to warm his bed, not for a few months, not even once. But that didn't stop Malfoy from flirting every chance he got near Harry or winking from across the room, he had even tried to approach Harry in the common room but Harry had simply gone up to his dorm.

The day had only just started and Harry was already filled with dread.

He had started the day as usual, getting up at a reasonable time to be able to leave the dorms and make it to the Great Hall before most of the other Slytherins got the chance to bother him. He ate a regular breakfast, ignoring the fact that the eggs seemed to be heart shaped, and that the students around him were excitedly talking about how many cards they had to give to people. He supposed he should at least be glad that the staff didn't bother to decorate or even acknowledge the event, everyone but Slughorn of course.

Professor Slughorn would likely talk happily of the event and make them do some love related work in potions, at least Harry didn't have to make any love potions, only 6th and 7th years did that stuff. He dreaded the class already.

From his position that allowed him to keep an eye on the doors he saw Monica walk in with Violet, they were hand in hand and only spared enough time to wave at Harry before sitting down together at the Ravenclaw table, most likely they would be spending the day together like any other couple. Not too long after he also saw Malfoy enter the hall, the git noticed Harry and sent him a wink, Harry glared in return and was rather pleased when Malfoy's friends got him to sit with them. Riddle did not arrive at the hall until later, with just enough time to eat a decent meal before class, he always arrived early to the Great Hall but never on this day, Harry supposed it was to avoid all the mushy fans, he probably read a book in his dorm until he came up to the hall, _or practiced his speech for world domination._

Harry wasn't sure if he should be glad or apprehensive when classes started, on one hand students had to pay attention and not act all mushy, on the other it brought him closer to potions class and the awkwardness that would ensue with his head of house.

His first class passed easily enough but then he had transfiguration with Professor Dumbledore, it seemed Dumbledore and Slughorn must have made a pact to embarrass the students for he had them turning thimbles and pins into intricate heart-shaped broaches. Harry briefly wondered if Riddle had transfiguration that day before shoving said thought out of his head, he didn't need to know if Riddle was making useless heart trinkets.

At lunch Harry wondered if he should even bother showing up at the great hall, he did not want to run into either of the elder Slytherins that day, but his grumbling stomach seemed to have other thoughts in mind. When he made it to the hall he quickly scanned it for Sam and sat down at the Hufflepuff table with him, doing his best to avoid the Slytherin one. If Sam noticed then he did not comment on it, for which Harry was grateful, but merely made small talk instead. Sam had never shown any interest in all in such mushy things and now Harry was very much glad for that fact. One sane person in the nuthouse.

All too soon lunch was over and so were Harry's other classes and he found himself heading towards his last class of the day, potions. Heading into the open classroom he sat towards the back of the room, an unusual thing as he had learnt long ago that he concentrated better at the front, but today he did not want a good seat to the show and the tables were already filled with giggling students.

It was a painful process sitting through Slughorn's sickening enthusiasm about love, Valentines and mushy feelings. He spent most of the class going on about it and talking about his past fondly and that it was only in the last half hour that he got to talking about the potions related to love and at the end of class told them to write an essay on a certain one or just love potions in general.

Harry wandered back in an exhausted fashion to the common room where he wasted no time sticking around to watch the students keep up the mushy act. When he got to his dorm he saw a small pile of things on his bed and felt his stomach flip, perhaps one was from Riddle? Certainly one was from Malfoy.

Sitting on his bed Harry picked up the closest card, it was from a student he had never met before, _seems not everyone is as put-off by the reputation as I thought._ Picking up another he saw it was indeed Malfoy's, it was nothing but a fancy way to say _'will you sleep with me'_ signed with his name... and?... harry sniffed... _perfumed? Was that lavender or something else?_ _Odd old git._ Picking up the last card he saw it wasn't signed, heart dropping as he read,

_You really should take better care of your letters._

Someone had found his letter... But who? He couldn't tell from the writing who the sender was, it was neat and looked like it could have been ripped out of a page in a book if not for it being stuck to a silly bit of pink, heart-shaped card. Whoever the sender was he had to admit it was clever to use the Valentines event to send it without it being traceable, there were so many students getting letters and rushing about no one would be able to tell Harry if someone had ducked into the dorm specifically to plant the one specific card. Harry shoved the letter in a draw in his bedside table, it was no use bothering with it right now, and looked at what was left of his pile, a heart-shaped box of chocolates and a treacle tart, neither was signed.

Pulling the chocolates over he lifted the lid of the box and peered inside, no note inside either. Pulling out his wand he performed a few spells to detect if there was anything off with them, a spell he had learnt himself because he thought it necessary with all the nasty tricks his housemates pulled on him, Harry wasn't very surprised when his test came up that the chocolates were laced with a love potion, no doubt they were from Malfoy. He promptly shoved the box of chocolates in the bin.

Harry then did the same with the tart, pulling it over and checking it for sabotage, but was quite happy to find it had not been sullied by any potions or spells, digging out a slice he sat back and ate it on his bed, he could just spell away any crumbs after all. He wondered who had sent him the treacle tart and if they were even aware it was his favourite, he supposed it didn't matter.

Munching away on his tart Harry decided he would make his potions essay about how love potions could be used as a drug to force people into sex.

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	11. Else My Heart Is Going To Pop

The only thing Harry could think of the days after Valentines was who had found his letter, and why they let him know about it? Better yet why did the whole school not know yet? He had to find the person and find out why, also then maybe get to burning that thing and erasing their memory of it.

Harry had tried figuring out who it was by the writing but there were too many students for him to study each of their writing and it was so flat and bland, like the person knew he would try that and had purposefully put effort into it looking the way it did.

He tried asking around if anyone saw who entered their dorm room that day, most people assumed he had a secret admirer he wanted to find, but the sources turned out duds too. People told him they saw Malfoy enter the dorm at one point as well as a bunch of other students, tracking down said students only lead him to find people who had given love letters and gifts to his dorm mates and the friend of the student that had given Harry his first letter, which was embarrassing for both of them really.

None of his sources led him to the person that left the note about his letter on his bed.

He supposed there was one good thing about those following days and that was handing in his essay to Slughorn and seeing him skim over it as his face fell, the professor was obviously shocked and rather embarrassed to be handed such a paper but he couldn't take points away or give Harry a bad score as it was still a good paper with solid points to it. Perhaps next year he won't be put through the same Valentines ordeal with that professor again. He could hope.

Although handing in his essay had lightened his mood for a while the looming threat of someone having his letter hung over him like storm clouds and washed away those light feelings pretty quickly. The whole thing had put him in a bad mood, not that he was having that many good moods lately between everything that had happened since the winter break, how could things change so much in just a few short months? He wasn't even in a good enough mood to truly enjoy the hex he had put on Malfoy after seeing him for the first time after being given the laced chocolates.

Harry was sitting in a dark corner of the library, not the usual one with his friends and he was currently alone but for the piles of books stacked up around him. He was staring at the black goldstone cat he got during that break, a habit he got while thinking over things. The person who had his letter was either one of the people who had been seen sneaking into the dorm, though many of those people were only passing things on from friends in other houses, or it was a person who was able to sneak about undetected, likely with the help of spells. Someone with that kind of magical knowledge to be able to sneak about must be a higher year student, there were plenty of seventh year students who would not be able to pull off such a feat, and it is likely whoever the person is would be a Slytherin to get into his dorm so easily.

 _Hmm... and older student, smart, and a Slytherin._ Riddle immediately came to mind, _He had been there when I got the note! He even asked about it! What if I never lost the damn thing but he took it while we... Shared that room..._ Harry shook the last thought off before a blush could take over his face like a new accessory and got up hastily, knocking over a nearby stack of books and sending them flying, before he practically ran from the library, the librarian yelling after him about his bad manners.

Dashing through the halls Harry wondered where he would find Riddle at that time of day, he had been in the library long enough to know the Slytherin wasn't there, he surely would have been hard to miss with the giant group of students that would crowd him. He practically flew down the moving staircase, causing many students walking them to swear loudly and dive out of his way.

Finally making it to the ground floor he peaked inside the great hall to see if Riddle was there, he wasn't.

Harry sped on past to the Slytherin dorms hoping to find him there, practically slamming into the brick wall he shouted the password at it and was greeted by the entire common room staring at him, obviously hearing the commotion outside. Grinning sheepishly he edged inside and sighed in relief when they stopped staring, scanning the room he looked for Riddle's group of friends, a large number of them were gathered in a corner under one of the windows that looked out into the lake, he took in each person present and noticed the lack of Riddle, he wasn't sure if he should be frustrated or relieved that he didn't need to confront him in front of a crowd or wait for a better time to.

Exiting out of the dorms again he rushed up the halls, perhaps Riddle would be found on the grounds somewhere. As he rushed past a few potions classrooms he found himself suddenly engulfed by arms and pulled behind a tapestry, whoever his attacker was they were behind him and had grabbed him in such a way that his arms were stuck to his sides, even if he could reach his wand he didn't have the movement required to cast a spell at them. Just as he was thinking of more physical ways to get them to release him said attacker spoke,

"Looking for me are you?"

It was Riddle. And he was talking _right_ in his ear, his soft, sensual voice sending ripples through Harry's spine as his breath gusted over his ear and neck. "Riddle." he stated in way of a harsh greeting, "Let me go." He was actually rather surprised when Riddle did indeed release him. "Th-thank you." he stated, turning around quickly and taking in his surroundings, the space behind the tapestry was small and there were crates of various sizes pushed up against the walls. Turning his attention back to Riddle he wondered about how he would confront the other, deciding to use his own words against him, "Why do you think I am looking for you?"

"Because you have been rushing about the castle like a mad man." Riddle stated it like he were talking of the weather.

"That doesn't mean I was looking for you."

"No. Yet here we are and you seem to find it perfectly reasonable to pass the time with idle chatter instead of rushing about again. Thus you must have found what you were looking for, or rather who."

"Well tell me then," Harry insisted, rather aggravated by Riddle, "Are you who I am looking for?"

"That depends," Riddle stated with a grin, looking Harry over like an animal would its food, "Is _this_ what you are after?" Riddle pulled a folded up bit of parchment from his robe pocket and held it up squashed between two fingers.

Harry gasped, "How did you get it?! Did you steal it from me?!"

"How I got it doesn't really matter right now, what matters is what you will do to get it back and stop me from telling anyone that you seem to be having daddy issues."

Harry practically growled in frustration, _how dare he take what isn't his and then ask for something in return for it?_ How very fitting for the snake, "What do you want Riddle?"

Riddle grinned and Harry wasn't sure if he should take it as a sign Riddle was happy or if he should run for his life, probably both, "I want a kiss."

The answer struck Harry dumb, _He wants a kiss? He wants to kiss me? Again? Why would he want that?_ The events under the Quidditch pitch came back to him, how Malfoy had tried to force himself on Harry, how Riddle had basically saved him, how he then kissed Harry and acted like it hadn't happened. Would he do that again? Kiss him and then ignore him? Was he just intent on using Harry like Malfoy tried to? A quick bit of entertainment to be forgotten so easily? The thought of Riddle only trying to use him brought a feeling of lead being dropped in his chest, suddenly it started burning like lava in his heart and before he knew it he was running from out of the tapestry up to the grounds.

Harry didn't stop until he reached the gardens on the grounds just outside the entrance to the dungeons, leaning on his side against the castle wall he noticed he had started crying and wiped furiously at the tears, what if someone saw him like that? But the feeling of having Riddle only want to use him came back and new tears flowed freshly, he hated himself for having such emotions, for being attracted to Riddle in the first place at all.

So lost in his emotions as he was he didn't notice someone approach him from behind until arms had wrapped around him gently, the same arms as just a moment before. Harry startled but was unable to utter a sound before soft lips brushed his cheek. He then felt a folded bit of parchment being shoved into his hand, he absentmindedly closed his fingers around it.

"Consider the ransom payed." Riddle whispered in his ear gently.

"Why?" Was all Harry could muster up to say, his voice almost cracking despite the fact his tears had stopped and the feeling in his chest had lightened.

"Because you didn't tell either."

And then Riddle was gone.

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	12. Hearts Sailing on Wind

Harry was surprised he could even keep up with his school work with how messed up his head was feeling lately, he felt like it was constantly lost in the clouds and he could not get a grip on anything even if he tried. Though he reasoned it was probably the escape his work provided for him that had him still holding onto steady grades.

He was currently in the library with his friends, the same corner as usual, _at least some things don't change,_ and Harry felt he needed all the solidity he could get lately. Between his work and the state recent events had left him in everything else just seemed like a blur in the background, he even had trouble keeping track of his friends conversations, of course they were well aware of it but had given up trying to draw Harry in or ask about his mood, it got them nowhere so they figured they would leave him to sort it out himself, which he was grateful for, he didn't need them prying into it.

Harry just could not wrap his head around the situation, Riddle had kissed him _twice_ now. He had even asked the second time and was really nice about it, which surprised Harry despite the fact Riddle had never actually done anything bad to him before and was always polite. Harry wondered if it meant Riddle liked him but he was too afraid to ask, for all the times Harry had randomly picked a fight with Riddle in the halls and accused him of wrong doings it was now of all times that he didn't have the courage to confront the older student. Perhaps because he was afraid of the answer. Thinking back on the same line of thoughts as that day he wondered if Riddle was just using him, if he merely liked to mess with Harry like Malfoy wanted to but was merely less blunt about it. Harry's chest hurt again.

Harry wanted an answer so badly, but he also didn't know what he would do with it, there was no way he could have a relationship with Riddle, it made no sense considering how much he suspected him of being evil incarnate. But he also knew his head got light, his face got hot and his heart felt like a hand was gripping and squeezing it tight whenever he was near the other boy and he could hardly stop himself thinking of those lips again.

But he had given the letter back. He hadn't shown it to anyone. Harry reasoned that Riddle probably could still tell people, evidence or not, and they would believe Riddle over him on it. But he hadn't. Nor had he asked for anything in return apart from that kiss. Harry had never felt more lost in his life.

Harry was so out of it he didn't notice it was time to leave the library for dinner until Sam was shaking him out of his thoughts, he thanked his friend and followed the group out of the library and down to the great hall.

Dinner was a short affair, Malfoy kept trying to grab his attention but Harry did his best to ignore the blond idiot. _At this rate I will have to hex his dick off before he gets the message..._ He found himself staring at Riddle a lot though, not with the usual 'I know you are up to something I just have to figure out what' stare, it was more of a blank stare as he thought about recent events and tried to piece everything together.

During dessert Malfoy tried to offer Harry a pudding but he promptly ignored him, turning further away from the blond he noticed a slice of treacle tart being pushed his way, looking up the pale arm to the person offering said dessert he blushed to find it was Riddle, who winked at Harry and popped a bit of his own tart into his mouth. Blushing Harry took the tart and made sure to keep his eyes on the food rather than a certain other, delicious looking thing... _like Riddle's lips... coated in sugar... damn it._

Staring down at his tart a revelation came to Harry, _it was Riddle who had left me the treacle tart on Valentines day!_ Harry remembered Sam telling him Riddle had been watching him, he could have easily seen that treacle tart was his favourite dessert, but why leave one for him? Was it to do with Riddle wanting to kiss him? It just made Harry wonder all over again if Riddle really did like him. Not knowing was killing him.

 

* * *

 

 

Harry thought he must be crazy but he could not stand it any longer. He was looking for Riddle. He needed an answer, he needed to know how the other felt. Even if he didn't know what he would do with the information he needed to have it.

He just had to find where the tall bastard was hiding. Running through the halls Harry was reminded of another time he had been hunting down Riddle, that had ended in tears and a kiss, he wondered if this would be similar.

Running through the halls he kept an eye on the grounds outside the windows and checked behind tapestries for hidden rooms and pathways where he might find the other boy, not ruling out the chance after last time. Steadily making his way up the castle floor by floor he wondered if he would even find the other before dinner, he was glad he was such a good runner but even he would run out of energy eventually. The more he ran the more aware he was of the waning time, he wondered if it would be more fruitful to just wait for dinner and follow Riddle, but then he would likely be surrounded by his cronies all night long.

Stopping to lean against a wall and catch his breath Harry thought about where Riddle could be, considering he had now covered all seven floors of the castle. The only other places were the astronomy tower and the grounds outside, he doubted he would be able to make it to the grounds or be able to search very long before dinner started.

Pushing himself off the wall, his breath caught up to shallow pants now he headed towards his last hope, the astronomy tower. Pushing open the heavy door he stepped inside and could already feel the chill of the winds, he ascended the stairs slowly, hand on rail and catching the last of his breath back. There was no need to rush now, if Riddle wasn't here then he had failed and would not get another chance tonight. He doubted he would be able to talk himself up into chasing after the elder again.

Heart fluttering in his chest he reached the stop of the winding stairs and sure enough there was the older boy, looking out into the sky and seeming to chart something down on bits of parchment, perhaps he was studying? _Should I bother him now then? Maybe I should just go? No! It took too much to get here, I have to have my answer!_

Taking a few steps forward the wind at the highest point in the castle hit him, his scarf flying out to his side and billowing silently in the wind, his shoes sounded against the stone ground drawing the other boys attention. Riddle turned his head enough to look at who had disturbed him, noticing who it was he turned towards the other boy.

The two stood in silence staring at each other, clothes being buffeted by the sweeping wind, Riddle's hand holding down his work, the sound of the parchments edges being lifted and smacked against each other the only sound not muffled, loud and scratching in the otherwise silent area. Neither seemed to want to speak first.

Harry drew in a deep breath, he had the courage to find Riddle now he needed every bit he had in him to will the words out of his mouth and keep his feet planted where they were, he could not run away from this, he needed this.

Willing his heart to still, "What do you feel?" he asked, "For me? I need to know."

Riddle didn't make a move, for a moment Harry wondered if the other had heard him, if his voice hadn't been so small for the wind to take it away. He was about to repeat himself when Riddle spoke up, "That's hard to say."

The response confused Harry, why couldn't the other just give him a straight answer, the longer he stood atop the tower the more his knee's shook and the weaker his heart felt, "How is it hard?" Harry demanded, voice still not as strong as he would have liked, it almost cracked and Harry hoped he would not burst into tears before he even got a proper answer, "Tell me, do you love me or not?"

"I can't say, I don't exactly know how love works, I never thought about it before." Riddle answered, frustrating Harry ever more, "But I know I want you."

"How?" Harry's voice was a near whisper.

Riddle stepped forwards, his hand leaving the parchments which quickly blew away, scattering into the wind and drifting ever further, the tower now only occupied by the sounds of wind ruffling clothes, "I want to touch you, to wrap my arms around you. The thought of kissing you does not appall me. There are many things I would like to do with you. Much more. I have never felt that way about another person." Riddle had not come too close, only halving the distance between himself and Harry, Harry could still turn and run if he wanted and he was sure the other would not catch him, "Sometimes I think about you and my chest hurts like I have been cursed with a blood boiling hex. The thought of Abraxas taking advantage of your idiocy angered me, I wanted to be the first to kiss you."

"But I thought you were asexual..." it was all Harry could think to say.

"You came to that conclusion on your own and I did not bother to correct you, at the time I almost believed it myself. Ever since you took the blame for the prank played when the students returned I could not stop thinking about you, then thinking about you caused me to feel strange things that only grew inside me."

"So you do love me?"

"If that is what you call it then yes." Riddles voice was low but it carried easily to Harry despite the wind, "Do you feel the same? I have seen the way you look at me."

Harry did not know how to respond, he had his answer now, Riddle did love him. He knew he felt the same but could he really return the feeling openly? Harry didn't think he could decide right now, stepping back from the other boy, "I- Uh... Thank you."

And this time it was Harry who left.

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	13. Kiss Me Gently

Since Harry had learnt that Riddle was in love with him he had done his best to avoid the other, after all he had just ran away and left him alone at the top of the tower after confessing his love, very unkind. Harry didn't think he was ready to face Riddle again just yet and so he did his best to avoid the older student, doing things like arriving at the great hall with only enough time to eat and sitting at either the Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw tables with his friends, and disappearing to his classes or dorm before the elder could catch him if he tried.

Since the confession Harry's heart only seemed to react even more violently against him with the knowledge that the feelings were returned, but was it something Harry could really do? Even if he wanted it, was a relationship with Riddle possible? Did the good outweigh the bad? Was he ready to face the backlash of dating the most popular male in the school? A male, just like him.

The thought of not being in a relationship with Riddle now was so painful he had taken to spending his free time on his bed in his dorm, away from even his friends. He did not want to risk being with them in the middle of the library while his heart decided to betray him, he did not want to cry in front of others. So away from others he hid.

At the same time the thought of what might happen if he did go through with it also scared him, his relationship with his father was strained enough, what would happen when the highly religious man found out his freak son was also gay? Harry knew everyone said family were meant to look out for each other and care no matter what but that didn't mean it would not anger his father.

Harry was confused, he was hurting and he was scared.

Bitterly Harry thought that things probably would have been easier if Riddle didn't feel for him, at least then he would not have to make a decision such as this, he would have been in pain but he could at least avoid the fear. Now he felt everything and still had to decide.

Through all the pain Harry could not help thinking about how it would feel if Riddle were there, if he could he held by the other boy, would it make him feel better? Probably. He wondered just how much those arms could fix. Perhaps they could protect him if he did choose the other boy? He was sure if he did go down that path that things would blow over eventually, people couldn't be mad forever, could they?

And so his mind was made up.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Harry wandered down the stairs from his dorm to the common room, looking around the grandly decorated space he located Riddle, it only took a moment for the other boy to raise his head and meet Harry's stare, Harry held it for a moment before leaving the common room.

He did not stop or wait around, he kept walking, heading to a lower part of the dungeon where they would not be disturbed. He only stopped once he was sure there was no way another student would be down there without having followed them.

Turning around he waited for Riddle, he wasn't left waiting long at all, _Riddle must be rather impatient with me_. The two stood facing each other, Harry was rather reminded of the events atop the tower but this time there was no wind, no ruffling of clothing that was so quiet then yet seemed too loud now. The hall was dark, being in the depths of the dungeon, and Riddle only stood a step or two away from him. Harry was suddenly unsure of how to tell Riddle how he felt, even knowing the other felt the same. Did he just come right out with it or did he need to go into a long speech about how the other made him feel?

Before Harry could speak Riddle's voice sounded in the dank corridor, "Don't tell anyone."

"What?" As usual Harry was confused, he wished people would stop doing that to him.

"It's obvious you don't seem to return my feelings... It was obvious once you ran away from me." Riddle's voice was low, "Just don't tell anyone about how I feel for you, and... I won't tell them about your relationship with you father."

Harry was shocked, "But I do like you! I love you! That's why I came down here... I just wanted to tell you... That I feel the same."

Riddle looked like he had been slapped, which was not the expression Harry thought he would have but he supposed it was better than the usual blank mask, "You... love me?"

Harry nodded, "Yes... It's... Like everything you described but more." an awkward silence stretched between the two, "So... what now?" Almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth he found himself pushed up against a wall with Riddle's lips crushing against his.

Harry's brain seemed to short circuit and all he knew in the world was Riddle's lips on his own, how soft and perfectly shaped they were, and how gently they pushed against his own was all that seemed important in the world, he didn't even have time to return it, just let the other boy take control as he was flattened against the dark, dungeon wall.

The wonderful lips were removed from his own and he almost whined, catching himself at the start of the sound and blushing deeply, Riddle merely chuckled at him, a low soft sound, "I guess this means we are in a relationship?" Riddle answered the question Harry almost forgot he had even asked.

"Yeah... I guess so." Harry grinned, Riddle returned the gesture and was descending upon Harry again, those same perfect lips meeting with his own.

And this time he kissed back.

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	14. Broken Hearts Abound

The next day the students of Hogwarts had little room to guess what happened when Tom Riddle and Harry Potter walked into the great hall together holding hands, the most sought-after, popular boy in school was holding hands with 'the mudblood of Slytherin' that had been known to distrust the other student. It seemed like a crazy dream, yet there they were, walking quite happily together. Tea was spat.

Harry sat down next to Riddle, I guess I should get used to calling him Tom now, attempting to ignore the stares of students all around them, he could see Monica sitting at the Ravenclaw table with Violet, the chubby girl practically bouncing up and down with her hand waving in the air at him before doing an 'I told you so' gesture. Harry merely sighed and rolled his eyes. Sam at least just deigned to give him a thumbs up.

The two boys had risen rather early, not unusual for them, so there were many students still in their dorms and not aware of the current change in the perfect prefects availability. Harry got a feeling not many students will be taking to kindly from it, if the looks he was getting from some of the other students had anything to say about it. _Wonderful, first year all over again but this time its the entire school, not just one house..._

They did not talk much as they ate but anyone who walked past their bench would be able to see their hands entwined beneath the table.

When Abraxas Malfoy strode the hall he was the essence of well-bred, pure-blooded wizard, the image quickly shattered though when he saw the two dark haired boys sitting together and seemed to do a double take. Seemingly remembering he was standing in front of so many people he quickly recomposed himself and came to sit down in front of the two. He said nothing though and soon enough the hall was filling with more and more students, Riddle's group surrounding the two of them after giving similar reactions to what Malfoy did.

Harry tried to ignore them and continue eating as if nothing was wrong, his hand squeezing Tom's slightly when Mulciber sat down next to him.

Just when Harry was sure all of Tom's usual group were there Avery spoke up, "So now that everyone is here would you mind telling us what the mud-ggleborn is doing here?" Harry had heard the start of the insult and had guessed from Avery's sudden jump that it had been an under-the-table hex that had him change the word before he got too far.

"Why else would he be here for?" Tom replied nonchalantly, "He simply wants to bask in my glory in the hopes some runs off on him." Harry choked on his egg at which Tom let go of his hand to pat him on the back, "If you weren't all so daft you would see Potter and I are in a relationship now," he stated, "Or should I call you Harry." the way the word rolled off the other boys tongue made Harry shiver and before he knew it he was being pulled in for a kiss right in front of the entire great hall.

The kiss ended and Harry was released, blushing he tried even harder to avoid the stares going around now, if they didn't hate him before they certainly did now. At least Malfoy looked like someone had slapped him with a kipper.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

That first breakfast had been eventful, Tom had spent quite a bit of it defending, he would call it explaining, their new relationship to his friends and by the time they left the great hall Harry's group of friends were waiting for them just past the doors and demanded a full explanation of how it came to happen, Monica teasing Harry the whole time and doing an 'I told you so' dance while sing-songing the phrase, prompting Tom to ask him later on just how long Harry had liked him, to which Harry merely blushed and brushed the other off, like he would admit the years-long crush that was only returned recently.

When it was time for classes Harry insisted to go alone as he usual did but, unless his class was on the opposite end of the school, Tom insisted on walking him to many of them, usually leaving only after giving Harry at least a peck on the cheek, causing Harry to start many classes with a face he was sure would burn any work given to him, or even a foot near him.

Harry found it easier to concentrate on classes and work than he had been able to in a while now, though there was always an underlying excitement for classes to end so he could see Riddle again, and maybe snog him in a forgotten hallway or hidden passage. He even invited Tom to his friends study place in the library, only after asking them if it was okay first of course and having them aware he would likely bring friends, which he did. But Harry found it very relaxing to study while laying against the other boy and that he even did better because of it.

As Harry had suspected the news was not taken in a very friendly manner, ' _He_ is dating Riddle?', 'Why _him_ over me?', 'I thought they hated each other!', 'It's so unfair!'. This caused Harry to be the target of many stray hexes and curses in the halls, he even received a few bits of mail, either carrying nasty tricks or howlers. Some students even resorted to throwing spells at him in classes and attempting to sabotage his potions or transfiguration work.

Honestly the whole ordeal served the purpose of pissing Harry off, amusing him slightly at their weak attempts, and making him thankful he had been such a huge nerd for most of his time at Hogwarts and thus had little incident with the pitiful attacks.

The most surprising thing to Harry was how Tom took to it when he found out just how much the student body had turned against Harry for their relationship, Harry was both touched and scared for the other students, Tom was terrifying when pissed. He made a mental note to either avoid pissing the other off, or to do it so often it becomes comical.

As Harry had thought the backlash wasn't so bad when he had Tom's arms around him and lips to sooth him, the brunt of the attacks stopped soon enough as well, dwindling down until very few students actually took any action other than bemoaning the fact that Tom was now off limits to them. Harry supposed it also helped that Tom set his friends to 'return any ill favours' thrown Harry's way, though he noticed the lack of Abraxas participating unless it suited to amuse him at the time.

Everything was alright, perhaps he and Tom had a chance after all he thought to himself happily one evening in the Slytherin common room as he sat in the older boys lap, the elder talking energetically about something or other with his friends, Harry himself immersed in a book.

Yeah, things were good he supposed, for now at least, and that was enough for him right then.

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	15. Weather Warming

The first Hogsmeade weekend since Harry started his relationship with Tom approached fast, when Tom had asked Harry to spend the day with him at the town Harry had blushed quite thoroughly, he had never been on a date before, but he agreed readily. Harry was just glad that Hogsmeade wasn't exactly the mushiest place ever, ignoring Madam Puddifoot's tea shop it was a simple, non-romantic location, and Harry severely doubted Tom would ever take him to the pink tea shop, which he was glad for.

Harry had woken and for once made an attempt to look nice before going down to the common room where he found Tom waiting for him, if possible he was looking even nicer than usual while still wearing the same old school uniform. The two had had a brief breakfast in the great hall before leaving the grounds to take a carriage into the wizard town.

The weather was warming up now, the only remnants of the snow that had covered Hogwarts not so long ago being nothing more than mushy puddles. Harry rested against Tom as the carriage took them down the wet and bumpy path to the town, Tom wrapped an arm around him and played with his necklace with the same hand. Since they had gotten together Harry had taken to wearing his black goldstone cat on the outside of his clothes rather than hiding it away, when Tom first noticed, which was right away, he took a moment to inspect the cat and how Harry had gotten it onto the twine string, he also confessed he still had his crown, but he kept it hidden in his trunk. It had become somewhat of a habit for Tom to rub his fingers over the cat while he held the smaller boy.

The ride to the town was short and the two stepped out of their carriage and right into a sloppy puddle, much to Tom's distaste. Harry laughed at the others scowl and dragged the older boy off by the arm, their first stop would be a bookstore, _how romantic!_ Though Harry did not care for the romance really, he was just happy to be with Tom and they both liked books so it was a good first choice he thought. It might also take Tom's mind off his muddy shoes.

As Harry had thought it worked like a charm, their wet arrival soon forgotten among the many towering bookshelves, Harry noticed when Tom was drawn to the books of a darker nature, remembering the days he would have jumped right down the others throat about it, now he found himself wanting to know what was in those books as well as why Tom wanted to read them.

After spending quite some time holed up in the book store, eventually being told by the owner that it was not a library and being shooed out when neither wanted to actually buy anything, they headed towards Dominic Maestro's music shop. Neither boys played an instrument but the store also had wizard records and players to listen to them on in the store. Entering the store they found it filled with a few other students, Harry was sure at least most of them would be part of Hogwarts choir.

The shop was filled with all sorts of magical instruments, many looked similar to regular muggle ones but with odd bends and extra parts, Harry even saw a horn with strings and a harp with an arm of its own, Tom noticed his stare and told him it was to add extra notes to music, but that they also tended to malfunction. Heading over to the records Harry noticed Tom seemed interested in the instrumental ones only, while Harry himself had started browsing ones from wrock bands. The two only listened to a few songs, teasing each other for their tastes, before leaving to another store.

Harry was almost surprised when Tom dragged him off towards Dogweed and Deathcap, a herbology store. Harry understood it better when he found the store sold herbs for potions, both dry and fresh, as well as live potted plants. They even had a small shelf stacked with books on herbology and a few on potions and even organic alchemy. Harry took time to browse the entire store and its wonderful plants, or not quite so wonderful in the case of the ones that snapped or sprayed weird mists at him. By the time they left Harry was sure Tom had not left empty handed, Harry's paranoid self wondering what and why.

"Just a little extra credit." was the only answer Tom gave him when he asked, well at least Harry knew he wasn't the nerdiest of them. Sighing at the lack of getting a real answer Harry decided to drop it, convincing himself that he had to trust his boyfriend a little more than he had done in the past. As they walked down the sodden road Harry barely had time to register what was happening before he was blinded by orange locks of hair while simultaneously having his ribs crushed. His friends seemed to have found him. After exchanging greetings Tom butted in, "Why don't you go spend some time with your friends Harry? You can go to that sugar store or the joke shop."

"And what will you be doing?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"Just checking up on something, might say hello to a few friends of my own. We can meet at the three broomsticks in an hour?"

Harry didn't think it was exactly normal for a date to be split up by sugar, jokes and friends but he wasn't about to say no, he did want to spend some time with his friends and he also wanted to show that he trusted Tom more by letting him go without too many questions, "Alright, an hour then."

As was suggested Harry did spend the hour with his friends at Honeydukes and Zonko's, telling them about his day with Tom so far while Monica teased him until Harry mentioned the fact that Violet was with them, making Monica blush and snatch a lollypop from a shelf with a huff. When the hour was up the group headed towards the three broomsticks, Harry's friends leaving him with well wishes once they had ordered drinks and went to find a table of their own while Harry looked around for Tom.

After being sure he had checked every nook in the pub he sat down at an empty booth table and waited for both his drink and his boyfriend to show up. The drink showed up first and Harry was about a third of the way through it before Tom plopped down on the chair in front of him, shooting him a smug, lopsided grin.

"What took you so long?" Harry practically demanded, first Tom had split up their date and then he made him wait for the bastard to show up.

Tom's voice was light, "Calm down precious, I was merely attending to a few errands, did you have fun with your friends?"

"I did, and you better hope I don't use some of the dungbombs I got at Zonko's on you!" He threatened.

"My, you are cute when you are angry." Tom teased.

Harry flustered, "I -I am not angry! I just didn't know... I thought dates were meant to mean just two people together the whole time."

Tom put on a pout, mocking Harry, "Are you upset I left you precious?"

"Maybe I am." Harry stated, sipping at his drink, "What would you do if I was?"

Without answering Tom got up from his seat and rounded the table to Harry's side, sitting on the cushioned bench he slid over to the smaller boy until Harry was being squished into the wall with no way to escape. Tom took Harry's drink from his nerve-weak hand and placed it on the table before answering the previous question, "This." and closed in on the other boy, their lips meeting in a kiss that soon became more and more forceful, though Harry made no complaints.

"I could get used to making you apologize..."Harry murmured breathlessly before going in to continue their business, not stopping until a cough sounded above them, the two boys looking up quickly to see a maid carrying a drink obviously for Tom. Harry found it amusing to watch Tom give an elegant grin, as if he had not just been having a snog-fest, take the drink, and thank the maid before she left.

Giggling, Harry found he much liked these 'dates'. He went in for another kiss.

 

 

_To be Continued..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'wrock' stands for wizard rock.


	16. Kiss Me, Hold Me, Fuck Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh... long chapter? ENJOY

A week after their Hogsmeade date found the two snogging in a secret passage, which was quickly becoming one of their favourite pastimes. Harry had expected Tom to be more forceful and domineering like he was with everything else but was pleasantly surprised to find that Tom seemed to have no complaints about letting Harry take the lead in their snog fests and allowing the smaller boy to explore his body through his clothes, Harry also found that if he wanted rougher sessions he usually had to be the one to instigate them.

Harry knew he had barely any idea at all of what he was doing but he didn't care for his lack of experience, he just wanted to feel the others body as much as he could with just the two hands he had, holding the other closely as they tried to keep quiet despite their privacy charms.

Since getting into the relationship they didn't waste time in snogging whenever possible, Harry certainly noticed an increase in his hormones, causing him many intimate sessions with his hand before bed, thank Merlin for privacy charms. Sometimes he wondered if Tom was feeling that change too, thinking of Tom having a bat to thoughts of him only caused him to blush and get hard all over again. Harry wasn't sure if he was in hormonal heaven or hell.

It was during this hidden snog fest that Tom had confessed to him in close, breathless pants, "I want to have sex with you..."

Harry had been taken off guard by the words, stopping his movements to take them in fully, "When?" Harry asked shakily.

Tom backed off a bit to look him in the eyes, "When ever you are ready."

And as if those words weren't enough the intensity in those dark eyes made his crotch twitch in its painfully tight confines, could he do it now? Was he ready for... that? But Harry was one for living in the moment, and who knew how long he could be this happy. Deciding to go with it, "Now?" his voice shook with slight uncertainty and apprehension for what would happen next.

"Not here." Tom answered, backing off further and releasing Harry he neatened his ruffled clothes, barely giving Harry enough time to do the same before grabbing his hand and heading down the hallway. At first Harry thought they were heading towards the Slytherin common room, perhaps to continue in Tom's bed but the older boy continued pulling him further down the dungeon halls.

They stopped before going too much deeper into the dungeons and Harry finally recognized where they were, it was the same room they had shared a bed in during the winter holidays. He watched as Tom pulled out the key for the door, grinning mischievously at him.

"You kept the key?" Harry asked incredulously, "Does Slughorn know you still haven't given it back?"

"No." Tom answered simply, putting the key in the door to open it, "And if he has noticed then he has certainly not brought it up."

"Why did you keep it?" Harry wondered suspiciously.

"I figured it might come in handy, it serves as a good place to practice my spells for classes or extra credit work."

"Of course..." Harry replied flatly, Tom was certainly a sneaky bastard.

The door creaked open and Harry was suddenly reminded of why they were there, they were going to... do it... Tom lead him in, closing and locking the door behind them as well as placing a few privacy wards on the room. Harry wasn't exactly sure what do with himself now, looking at the bed he wondered if he should get on it, _or should I strip first? Will Tom want to take my clothes off for me?_ Feeling very awkward at that moment Harry wandered over to the bed and sat on the edge of it, feeling the soft mattress squish underneath his weight and the silky sheets under his hands.

Tom came over to him and sat on the edge of the bed next to him, Harry could see some of his own uncertainty in those beautiful dark orbs, neither of them had had sex before. Rubbing a soothing hand over Harry's cheek Tom pulled the smaller boy closer to him, "Relax precious, I will be gentle with you, I promise." and those lips were on him.

Harry felt himself being pushed back on the bed and he wiggled into the middle without breaking the kiss, the two boys lay there for a while just kissing each other, soon Harry's confidence grew and he started running his hands over the older boy like he did when they snogged, in fact it felt just like that but they were laying down on a comfy bed rather than being pushed up against walls or crates in cold, hidden passageways.

Before Harry had even noticed it Tom had already opened his cloak, gotten rid of his tie, and unbuttoned his shirt and was laying kisses down his chest as his face flushed, they had only ever felt each other through and under clothing, and never below the waist. Kisses anywhere other than his face, neck and shoulders was new to him. Tom sat up and tugged at his clothing, getting the message Harry shrugged off his cloak and shirt, he was then pushed back onto the bed as Tom laid more kisses upon him.

Getting braver Harry moved his hands up and started removing Tom's cloak, tie, and shirt, the elder complying and shrugging them off once Harry's part of the job was done before descending upon the smaller boy again. The two went back to mere kisses and touches, leaving their pants alone as their bare-chested bodies hugged each other close, kissing and feeling the newly exposed territory.

Harry moved his hands down to Tom's pants as the other continued lavishing his chest in kisses and touches, fumbling with the buttons Harry found it hard to remove the pesky article in the position they were in, after what felt like too long he finally had them undone and started pulling them down, Tom had stopped what he was doing, lifting himself up on his hand on either side of Harry's head to watch as the younger pulled his pants down to his knees, revealing his y-front underwear and the very noticeable tent in them.

Harry blushed when he saw the bump, suddenly wondering how that thing would fit inside him if it looked so big while still hidden away. Entranced he ran a hand over the bump gently and, blushing further, looked up when Tom shuddered and let out a sound between a hiss and a moan. The older boy dropped his head again to stare at Harry, the look in his eyes so intense Harry's breathing momentarily hitched. The moment was over quickly as Tom backed off from Harry to kick his pants of entirely, taking off his shoes and socks in the process. Noticing he was still wearing his as well Harry kicked his shoes off too, not caring where they landed, and started pulling on a sock when he was, almost roughly, pushed back against the pillows again.

Looking up Harry saw Tom holding him down with a hand on his chest, that same intense look in his dark eyes, when it seemed he was sure Harry would not move he let up the hand pinning Harry's chest and moved down, gently pulling his socks off for him and running a hand up Harry's leg as he came back up to Harry's hips and started unbuttoning the pants. Not sure what to do as Tom set to work on getting their clothing amount on the same level he contented himself to watch Riddles underwear, specifically the bulge in them that would twitch and move as the older boy did, thinking about what was soon to happen.

Harry moaned as a warm, gently pressure was rubbed up his crotch, only then noticing that Tom had finished removing his pants and was repaying the favour from earlier, and boy could Harry understand why Tom had moaned the way he did, being rubbed through his underwear seemed to be rather pleasurable.

The two started kissing again, hugging each other close and reveling in the feeling of their naked skin rubbing together, legs entangled and chests touching. Both boys moaned aloud when their crotches rubbed together, Harry wanted more and started bucking his hips to make them rub again, Tom merely moaned in response and Harry was sure he even said something in parseltongue.

Harry had only managed to make their cocks rub together like that a few times before Tom seemed to want more, sliding down Harry's legs again he hooked his fingers under Harry's y-fronts but made no further move, instead looking at Harry who got the point and nodded, giving Tom permission to take it further. Tom easily pulled the underwear down Harry's legs and flicked them away as if they were the most unimportant, useless thing he had ever seen in his life.

Leaning down Harry watched with a face on fire as Tom gripped his member in one of his warm hands, and boy did that feel so _very_ different from holding himself. Tom seemed to merely inspect the hard cock in his hand like it was some sort of potion he needed for a good grade in class, Harry squeaked in a most undignified manner when he saw Tom close in on his member, tongue coming out of his mouth and Harry had no doubts about what the older boy was going to do, and when that tongue made sweet, soft, slightly wet contact with his penis he practically howled in pleasure.

The tongue dragged up his member, from just above where Tom was gripping him to the head. Tom leaned back again for a moment, seeming to savour the taste, before going in to lick again, this time he flicked his tongue around the rim at the head of the cock and Harry nearly squealed in delight, writhing on the bed as Tom lapped at him. It was over all too soon though, with Tom backing off and sitting up.

Harry whined at the loss but Tom merely chuckled at him, "We don't want this to be over so soon do we?"

Harry got the message he was saying, much longer and he would have came, probably all over Tom's face, that thought made him almost want to continue but he also knew he would not be able to get hard again and that he wanted both of them to feel good and to actually do what they came to do.

Harry sat up, panting lightly from the experience he had just gone through and crawled over to Tom who gave him a questioning look before Harry slipped his fingers under the elastic in his underwear and he got the point, allowing Harry to take them off and leaned back on his hands as Harry returned the favour of inspecting and tasting his member, Harry found the flavour odd and could not decide if he liked it or not, he supposed the come would taste different, and that he might get a chance in the future to taste it.

The two sat on the bed, Harry was sure that now they would... continue further... but he was suddenly reminded of something, asking anxiously, "Won't it hurt?" He asked Tom, "I mean... how will it go in? Not dry... right?"

"Of course not precious." Tom placated him, leaning over to place a hand on his messy head and kiss it before getting off the bed and walking over to his cloak, Harry watched as the very naked and _very_ hot boy pulled something out from one of the inner pockets, it was a bottle of lube, "We will use this."

"When did you get lube?" Harry asked, wondering just how long Tom had been carrying it around, had he been expecting this? Did he plan it all out?

"I got it at Hogsmeade, when we temporarily split up our date," He replied and then laughed at Harry's indignant gasp, "I got it and have been carrying it around just in case, don't worry love, I did not trick you, I was merely prepared," Tom rejoined him on the bed, grinning cheekily, "You can't fault me for that."

Harry supposed he couldn't, and that he would be rather disappointed that they got this far and would not be able to continue if Tom hadn't thought ahead. Harry laid back on the bed, some of his previous apprehension coming back, "Is this how we'll do it?" He asked.

"Yes, I want to look at you while this happens." Tom replied, crawling forward and adjusting Harry's legs so that he sat between them, Harry was hyper-aware of his movements suddenly and wondered how he looked to the other, he didn't bother to ask though and just watched as Tom opened up the lube and wet a finger with it, "I think that's enough," Tom muttered, seemingly to himself, as he inspected the slick finger before setting the lube on the bed next to Harry and moving the finger downwards, "Tell me if I hurt you, okay?" Tom told him, looking him in the eye.

Harry nodded and prepared himself for the finger, slightly surprised when all Tom did was rub it over his entrance, it was wet and cold but Harry found it wasn't exactly bad. Tom smeared the lube over him before wetting the finger again and placing it at the now slick entrance, "Relax love." Tom soothed him, running his free hand over Harry's side gently. Harry tried to even out his breathing and relax, he then felt the finger start to probe him and momentarily stiffened up before once again attempting to relax, Tom's hand on his side helping to sooth him.

The process was slow and Tom would stop often, either to make sure he wasn't hurting Harry or to try to find a better angle, eventually though another finger was added and he started a slow scissoring motion, Harry moaning and finding himself enjoying the steady stretching, finding every move Tom made turned him on even more. Tom added a third finger and stretched him further before pulling all of the digits out, Harry making an unintelligible sound at the loss.

Tom chuckled at him, "It's okay love, you will be full again soon." the older boy spent a moment putting a good amount of lube on his cock before positioning himself above Harry, he made no further movements though and looked up at Harry, "You're sure you want this? You can say no."

Harry thought it was an odd thing to ask after how far they had come but he nodded anyway, "Yeah, I want this, I want you."

Tom nodded back, "Tell me the moment it starts hurting okay? I will stop."

Harry was touched by how much Tom seemed to care about his consent and not wanting to hurt him, he allowed those feelings to squash down his apprehension, knowing the only reason it was there was because he had never done this before. He did his best to stay relaxed as Tom's cock pushed against his entrance, the lube and stretching helping it ease in and Harry gasped loudly at the intrusion. Seeing Tom's hesitance at that he merely smiled up at the other boy and motioned for him to continue.

It took some time, with awkward, novice movements and Tom making sure Harry's wasn't being hurt but eventually the two lay panting together as Tom's cock fully sheathed itself inside the smaller boy beneath him. They spent a moment like that, allowing both of them to adjust to the feeling while laying tender kisses upon each other before Harry felt he had had enough waiting and bucked his hips, making Tom hiss and seemingly get the point as he started thrusting slowly at first before building up into a faster pace.

Harry moaned appreciatively beneath him, his legs hurt a little from being held up and to the sides of Tom but the pleasure in his backside was enough to make him forget about the slight ache he felt. The feeling of his body rocking back and forth as Tom drove in and out of him was odd but he didn't find it unenjoyable, Tom's arms around him held him to the same spot of the bed even during the rougher thrusts and Harry found himself shoving his hips forwards to create more movement between them.

Snaking an arm down to play with himself Harry quickly lost himself in the pleasure, it wasn't long until he came shouting Tom's name as his cum sprayed both of their stomachs and his body spasmed violently. Tom thrusted into the other a few more times before reaching his own climax, hissing loudly in parseltongue as his body shook, Harry feeling every vibration and loving the fact that he had brought the boy he cared so much for to that point.

Tom fell on top of Harry, panting in the aftermath and after taking a moment to catch his breath he pulled out of Harry, his now flaccid cock easily slipping out of the stretched and used entrance. The two lay embracing each other as they caught their breath and reveled in what they had just done.

After a while Tom grabbed his wand and spelled them clean before pulling the blanket over them and settling down to sleep, it was still Saturday so they would not be missed if they stayed in the room for very long, though they would have to leave eventually to avoid suspicion and clean themselves properly, scourgify could only do so much.

"What did you say?" Harry wondered in a tired voice, perfectly content to stay in the room, naked with his lover, for a while longer.

"What do you mean?" Tom mumbled, his eyes were closed as if he could just drift off to sleep right then, Harry got the feeling Tom was more tired than he was, perhaps also relieved he had not hurt him.

"When you came," Harry elaborated, blushing despite the fact he had just had sex, "You spoke in parseltongue."

"Oh..." Was Toms only response for a moment, "I didn't know, it sounds like normal English to me... maybe a bit hissier..."

"So... what did you say?" Harry prompted.

Tom smiled but didn't open his eyes, "Your name."

Harry couldn't help smiling at that and leant over to kiss Tom on the cheek, whispering, "I love you."

Tom mumbled a response that sounded like 'lub you too', Harry giggled and noted that was the first time since the incident on the astronomy tower that Tom had admitted to loving him, perhaps he merely needed Tom to be dead tired to get him to say it more, and personally he could not wait for another chance to do this again, but for now he merely snuggled under the blankets, hugging the other boy and fell asleep quite happy.

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	17. Jealousy Plays Dirty

In the days following the loss of their virginity Harry's mood was lifted to new heights, finally understanding the muggle term of 'walking on clouds'. The mood was not missed and his friends easily figured it out, along with cornering Harry and forcing him to tell confirm it. The teachers either did not comment, made remarks that likely went over the heads of some of the less attentive students, or sneered at the knowledge that students were involved in such acts inside the castle.

The gossip mill started up but aside from a few glares and dirty remarks no one really bothered Harry, even if they had tried Harry felt it was unlikely they would succeed. Just remembering waking up hours after their escapade in Tom's firm, warm arms with their bare bodies pressing together was enough to keep Harry's mood up.

Sneaking back into the dorms and to the showers was an amusing ordeal, Tom was not a student that was easily missed due to his popularity but the two did their best to not engage in conversation until they had cleaned and were sure there was no lingering scent of sex, which Harry found was a very distinctive scent indeed. An additional benefit was that the both of them seemed to have more confidence during their snog sessions and let their hands roam more freely.

Harry was currently walking back to the Slytherin common room after having been in the library with his friends studying, the halls at that time and place were rather quiet and Harry found himself enjoying the peace, sure the library was a generally silent place but it was still filled with many students and had the sounds of them shuffling around books in the isles, working, and talking. To be alone sometimes was nice.

The grounds outside were puddle-free now, all of them dried up and seemed to be making way for the many plants around the forest and lake to grow lush and flower. Harry liked seeing the magical plants in action, as well as the creatures that sometimes popped out of the forest to sniff around at the grassy hills. He knew he would not get a job working with either but he fancied the idea of a wizard house surrounded by all sorts of magical life, blooming and fruiting, drying and hiding away, it was all so appealing to him.

Thinking about such things made him also think of Tom, the other boy lived in an orphanage, he didn't have any place to call home at all, at least Harry had a home, even if it wasn't always the nicest place to be and he couldn't perform magic and had to listen to his father complain about mundane, muggle things. He wondered if he and Tom would live together one day, would Tom like to have many magical plants and animals? The thought of sharing a home with his love, and all the simple, house-life things that went through his head, brought a smile to his lips. Neither of them had much money though, but he was sure it wouldn't take too much to get themselves a place to call their own, they could move up from flat, to block, to a nice big land where they could do whatever they wanted together.

So lost in his thoughts as he was he didn't straight away notice the sounds of another pair of feet making their way down the hall, turning about to look Harry saw the long blond hair that could only belong to one student, Malfoy.

"What do you want Malfoy?" the seventh year was making no attempt to hide himself, merely strolling up to Harry like they were good friends before pushing him back against one of the large windows, easily holding back the smaller student. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Harry demanded.

"So are the rumours true?" was the only answer Malfoy gave him, his face suddenly giving off a feral expression and Harry wasn't sure if the upturn of his lips was from any happiness, unless the older was enjoying holding him down and questioning him in such a viscous manner, which was a possibility.

"What ones?" Harry asked, trying not to show just how scared the older student was making him, "The ones about Tom and myself, or the ones about you being a giant prat?"

"You know what I mean!" Malfoy practically growled, shoving at Harry as if the smaller boy was not already squashed up against the window, "The ones saying you and Riddle fucked!"

"So what if we did?! It's none of your bloody business what Tom and I do together!" Harry yelled back, attempting to shove himself off the wall but finding that Malfoy's grip on his was stronger than he was.

"My point is that you denied me sex but here you are giving it out right after startling a relationship!" Malfoy yelled back, proving once again what an entitled jerk he was, all this was about sex? Pathetic. "You gave me a stupid line about not wanting to have sex with someone you weren't close to but here you are spreading your legs for fucking Riddle! He isn't even pureblooded!"

"I thought you liked Riddle?" Harry asked, trying to pry the elders hands from his shoulders, they where digging in painfully and Harry just knew he was going to have bruises, "You always went around licking his boots but now you hate him because he got his dick wet and you didn't? You really are stuck up."

A growl rose in Malfoy throat, "You said you wouldn't have sex with someone who will leave you but here you are with Riddle, and you seem to have no problem letting _him_ put his dick in you."

"What- What makes you think Tom will leave me?" There had been no indication that their relationship would only be temporary, and as far as things stood he still had a better chance with Tom than the pureblood, Tom wasn't required to go and get married and have kids right after school.

"What makes you think he would ever actually keep a mudblood like you around?" Malfoy replied angrily, "He hates your kind as much as the purebloods he hangs around do, or are you really too daft to see that?" spittle was flying from the blonds mouth as he raged and Harry turned his head in an attempt to avoid being sprayed, "You are nothing but a quick fuck and some fun while he is still at school! The moment he leaves this place he will leave you behind with it!"

Harry felt like he had been slapped and the force of it reached within him, rattling his ribcage and the heart that lay within like a bird in a cage, "That's bullshit Malfoy, you are just a jealous, pathetic piece of kneazle shit." Harry knew he couldn't take the blonds word, he merely wanted to split up Harry's relationship with Tom and have Harry for himself.

Malfoy shoved him one more time, this time his hands let up and Harry scurried backwards away from the other boy, raising a hand to feel the skin on his shoulders that would definitely be bruised, "Don't believe me then. Believe whatever you want mudblood, but soon enough Tom will get bored of you, or you will bother him too much. One way or another you will be left with nothing but the knowledge that people like you are only good for a few rounds in bed." Malfoy looked practically feral even as he backed off and Harry wondered if the student had lost his mind, "And when you finally realize and embrace the only thing you are good at... I will be waiting."

Malfoy turned and stalked down the hall, looking like some vicious predator that had just ripped apart its prey, and Harry rather felt like he played the part of the prey well at that moment. Harry's legs buckled under him and he fell to the floor on them, watching the spot where the blond had left, hand still on the tender shoulder.

He wondered how he would hide the bruises when they were in Tom's favourite place to kiss him.

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	18. It's Not Your Problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom's stance on muggleborns is smoothed out now! Huzzah. Will this be the last they see of a certain blond hide though?

It took Harry a few minutes before he got the strength to lift himself off the ground and head towards the common room, deciding to just head straight to bed and deal with everything later he slipped into the common room without being noticed, Tom was there surrounded by his friends but if he saw Harry he gave no indication of it, instead talking about whatever had all his cronies latched to his every word.

Malfoy however, who was part of the group surrounding Tom, did see him. The look he shot Harry was filled with malice and triumph, Harry was tired, sore and shaken up so all he managed was a half-hearted glare before turning and heading up to his dorm to see if he could do anything about the bruises and to mull over what had happened.

The next morning Harry stayed in bed for a while before heading down to the great hall, almost all the other students were already there, including Tom. Harry decided to head over to the Hufflepuff table instead of his own, despite how close the two had been since they had gotten together it wasn't unusual for either of them to take time away from the other to spend instead with their own friends and lives, if Tom made any indication that he didn't approve then Harry did not notice as he set all his attention on talking with Sam.

Once breakfast was over Harry made use of his small size to slip between students and exit the hall quickly, rushing off to his first class without waiting. Usually Tom would see him off, either walking with him to class or giving him a kiss before they parted, but Harry didn't think he could deal with being around the other just yet. Harry did his best to avoid running into Tom and by the time lunch rolled around Harry made an excuse to his friends that he had left work behind in his class and spent the time down near the forest instead of eating in the hall with everyone else.

It wasn't that he was trying to keep secrets or hurt Tom, he simply didn't know how to handle the situation. He knew he should talk to him about the issue but he was scared that Tom would confirm what Malfoy said. Malfoy had been right after all, they hadn't been in their relationship for very long before Harry let Tom have sex with him, he was also right about Tom not liking muggleborns. So why was he with Harry? Would he really leave him? Was he just being used?

Harry hated that he was letting Malfoy get to him, but he hated even more the fact that Malfoy could very well be correct.

Sitting out by the forest served to calm him at least, the steady swishing sound of waves from the lake hitting the shore and the wind in the trees made the area a peaceful place to sit alone. The bruises on his shoulders had set into a dark blotchy marking, filled with purples, blues and sickly yellow colours. Harry had tried to heal the bruises but his knowledge of healing spells wasn't too great, especially since his entire knowledge of the branch came from books alone and he didn't have too many opportunities to test his theory. The bruises covered his shoulders like a dark shawl, outlining his collar bones and clearly showing off marks where fingers had dug in.

Harry knew his time was running out, eventually he would have to face Tom, either from being in the same place or from the other seeking him out. He also knew that he would not be content until the situation was spoken and dealt with, he would not be able to sit in the others embrace without thinking on what had happened. He could not ignore the situation but words would not come to him, how could he bring it up? Would Tom be angry he tried to hide it all day? What if he was already angry that Harry had avoided him?

With a sigh Harry headed back up to the castle and to his next classes, he had at least until dinner to try to find the right words.

 

* * *

 

When it was time for dinner Harry decided there was no right way to tell Tom so he would just face it and try to get through it, hopefully without his heart breaking. This time when he entered the hall he went to the Slytherin table and sat next to Tom without a word, he expected to be yelled at right then and there and thus was surprised when he felt his hand being gently squeezed by another, looking up he saw Tom give him a brief but reassuring look, though his eyes seemed to hold more than just that but Tom made no indication to bring it up right then. Harry supposed that everything was alright, for now.

Dinner was silent with obvious tension between them but every so often Tom's hand would brush against his and he remembered to breath again. When dinner finally ended Tom grabbed Harry's hand and led him silently out of the hall, heading past the common room and continuing on until they reached the room where they had spent their most intimate moment, Tom unlocked the door and led Harry in.

Harry's nerves where jumping about, like crickets in his chest trying to escape, and he wasn't sure if he should sit on the bed or remain standing, going with the later he tried to find a way to start explaining things but Tom spoke first.

"What is wrong?"

Harry was surprised by the lack of anger in his voice, he merely sounded tired, perhaps a bit agitated. "You aren't angry that I have avoided you all day?" Harry asked tentatively, forgetting to answer the original question.

"I am," Tom stated, "but I know there must be some reason for why you have done so, and I would rather direct my anger at that." with a dangerous look, "Did someone do something to you?"

Harry didn't like to feel like he was being a snitch but he figured the only way to properly convey what was wrong would be to tell Tom everything that had happened, and he figured Malfoy probably deserved what ever punishment he got. Harry sat on the bed, Tom followed and sat close to him, paying him his full attention as Harry told him what had happened. Once he was through telling the other what Malfoy had told him Tom looked livid.

"It's none of his bloody business what we do together!" Tom seethed, turning away and looking as if he was making plans in his head, "I'll curse that git!"

"It's not true though is it?" Harry asked, fear muffling his voice, "You won't leave me will you? You won't get bored?"

Riddle turned back to him, "I would not have started this relationship if I planned on it to end. I don't plan on using you, there are easier ways to get people to do what I want, and certainly not for sex."

"But what about me being a muggleborn? He was right about that, I have heard you and your friends talk about people like me... Doesn't it bother you?"

Tom sighed and Harry felt he was in for a long talk, not that he minded so long as he was put at ease from his fears, "I will admit I am not particularly fond of muggleborns but I wouldn't go so far as to say I hate them as much as my associates do." Harry noted the lack of the word 'friends' but he supposed Tom was including Malfoy in that bunch and knew he himself would not be very friendly to the other at that point, "For a long time I thought I was a muggleborn myself, along with everyone else in Slytherin. My problem with them is what they do to the magical world, they bring in their own muggle beliefs and traditions and kick out the wizard ones, and the ministry and Hogwarts just lets them. They live in both worlds risking the secrecy of our kind. They are strangers who come in and ruin our culture without bothering to even try to learn it. When I joined the wizarding world and learnt of them having their own culture I did my best to study it, which is why so many purebloods now flock to me, I am not only powerful but I am not trying to shove their lifestyle under a rug for my own convenience, and neither are you."

"So... You just don't like muggleborns that come in and try to change things to fit them?"

"Exactly. The wizard traditions have to be passed down or they will be forgotten. There is so much the ministry could be doing to solve this problem without even harming anyone but they don't want to, likely because many of them are the muggleborns that want the world to fit them."

"So you don't hate the fact that I am muggleborn? You won't leave me?"

"Of course I won't leave you Harry, I thought I made that very clear when I confessed to you my feelings." Tom replied as if it were the most simply thing in the world, but there was a touch of softness to his voice, "The fact that you are muggleborn certainly isn't something I jump for joy about but I don't hate you for it, you can't help it..." For a moment Harry almost felt that Tom was talking to himself as well as Harry, "My associates hate muggleborns but that is because they have been taught to, when it became noticeable what muggleborns were doing to wizarding culture the pureblood houses, who had the most knowledge about the old customs and how things had been, were angry, and they taught their children to be angry, but many of them never bothered to tell them _why_. It's not about blood, not really."

"I see." Harry was feeling better about their talk, he also liked knowing why Tom felt the way he did about muggleborns and couldn't help but agree, how many muggleborns were there in their world now? How many would have been taught about the culture they now live in? Harry knew he hadn't been given any guide books or tips on what to expect. They were left wandering in the dark, it was no wonder they clashed so much with the people who had always been a part of it. Thinking about it in that light Harry felt rather angry that the ministry didn't do more for him and other muggleborns, surely it couldn't be so hard to locate them earlier and have them learn about the world they would live in before they joined it?

Harry was so lost in thought that he jumped when he felt an arm pull him in for an embrace, "So are you feeling better now precious?"

"Yeah, I guess." Harry smiled up at Tom but couldn't help the wince when Tom gripped one of his shoulders, Tom obviously noticed.

"What's wrong with your shoulder?" the older boys tone was a demanding one.

Harry pulled away as Tom tried to move his school robes out of the way to look, "N- Nothing... Really..."

Tom's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Did Malfoy hurt you?" he hissed.

"He... uh..." Harry figured he may as well tell Tom, Malfoy be damned, he didn't deserve Harry protecting him, "He gripped me really hard when he was yelling at me... It's just some bruises..."

Tom had Harry pinned down on the bed so fast Harry almost thought he must have used magic. Tom quickly removed the clothes in the way of Harry's shoulders and looked over the bruises on both sides, Harry felt rather uncomfortable as Tom was sitting on top of him while undressing him, he couldn't help but think of the last time they used the room and tried to avoid blushing, or worse.

Above him Tom growled, like a savage animal and far more scary than any noise Malfoy could have ever made. "I will kill that blond arsehole!"

"I really recommend against murder Tom," Harry spoke to the boy above him, "Maybe just a few hexes and curses will do?" Harry really did not want Tom getting into trouble because of him.

Tom huffed, "We'll see."

The two boys spent the rest of the afternoon in that room, Harry lay against Tom as they talked and after a while they pulled out their work. Harry felt much better and was glad everything had been smoothed over now, he just had to keep an eye out to make sure Tom didn't do anything illegal to the blond git, even if he did deserve what ever was thrown at him.

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	19. Paradise Lost, Closet's Suffice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you mean 'NOT write copious amounts of porn now that the two are together'? Nah. Next few chapters (until summer beak) will likely have more porn. Ye be warned.

After their talk Harry was back to being his happy 'walking on clouds' self, if a bit more down to earth again now that they had been together for a few week. While they had been alone together in the dungeon room Tom had healed Harry's bruises, which were now only slightly discoloured and only hurt a bit, he had then seemed obsessed with kissing Harry's shoulders, so much so he even did it in the common room when it was just the two of them sitting together, though he did not move Harry's clothes out of the way to do so thankfully.

A few days later Abraxas Malfoy turned up in the hospital wing, Harry wasn't sure how he ended up in such a state, just that they had found the blond hanging upside down somewhere, but he was sure Tom was behind it, despite the fact that there were no signs linking him to Malfoy's 'accident' and Malfoy himself didn't seem to want to say if Tom had been behind it, if anything Harry thought maybe Malfoy had lost the ability to speak at all -until he let off some fire crackers in the hospital wing to test that theory and Malfoy screeched like a banshee and fell off his bed.

Malfoy wasn't exactly let off easy but Harry had to admit that the school hospital wing was better than Saint Mungo's or dead. So he let Tom off with nothing more than an exasperated look upon hearing of Malfoy's fate. The blond would likely make a full recovery but it would be a week or two before he would be let out of the hospital wing and back to classes.

Harry wondered if that would be the last of the trouble they would see but knew he probably couldn't hope so much when so many students liked Tom, some of them might get brave. Or stupid. Probably both. For now things seemed alright concerning that matter though.

Not everything was so fantastic though, one afternoon after classes Harry had headed down to the dungeons to meet Tom, who had just had potions, and found Slughorn inquiring about the key to the dungeon room, Tom had played it off well so that the professor did not expect he had purposefully kept it but it did mean that Tom now had to return the key. Meaning they no longer had their own special room to be alone in. Bollocks.

The return of the key was the exact reason why Tom and Harry were squashed into a broom closet at that moment, Tom's dick in Harry's mouth as the smaller boy tried to find a position on the cramped floor that didn't hurt his legs and Tom tried not to make a sound as the boy sucked on him.

Harry had been the one to suggest it as he had wanted to try it since that day they lost their virginity. As of now they had only gotten so far as Harry shoving Tom into the broom closet, throwing up a few charms and getting on his knees to suck the recently-freed penis into his mouth, grabbing the base with a hand to steady it.

Harry wasn't exactly sure what he was doing, besides the obvious 'stick dick in mouth and suck'. The taste was like soft, sweaty skin, which wasn't really surprising, and that whole general area of the taller boy smelt of hormones. Harry wasn't exactly pleased with the taste but he didn't find it too bad, and the sounds Tom was trying to hold back made it worth it he reckoned.

Tom was resting his back against the wall of the closet and spreading his legs for Harry to get as his privates, there were a few crate-like boxes in the closet as well as the standard mops and buckets that Tom leaned against slightly, propping himself up with a hand on one as his other hand was raised up, his arm placed in front of his mouth to muffle his noises.

From his position between the other boys legs Harry could see that Tom kept himself well shaved, which he had already seen from their time in bed but now it was right in front of his face, Harry was rather glad that Tom did as he didn't fancy having a nose full of pubes if he ever managed to get the damned dick past his throat. That being his current predicament, he was trying to see how much of the boy he could fit in his mouth but whenever it reached the back he felt a sensation like cotton in his throat and instinctively pulled back. It was rather annoying as he wanted to have the dick go further down but he found it very tough to fight his instincts on this matter, _damn life-saving throat mechanisms._

Deciding to give up on that endeavor for now Harry licked around the penis, dragging his tongue over the head Harry enjoyed the muffled moans Tom made above him, it felt good to have the stoic boy create such sounds because of him. Harry ventured down the shaft with his tongue, licking and kissing as he went until he made it to the ball sack and started sucking on that, finding it tasted even sweatier than the penis as his nose was assaulted by hormones that really only made him hornier.

Harry released the sack from his mouth and licked his way back up the shaft again, stopping to look up at Tom who's eyes were filled with lust and his face flushed. Harry grinned up at Tom, a devilish expression which the other scowled at, or at least tried to but it seemed he found the task a little too difficult at that moment.

Harry went to lick the head of the penis again and pulled away straight after, pre-come had leaked from the cock as he had been sucking on Tom's balls and Harry had just gotten a good taste of it, he had known it would taste 'salty' from what he had heard and read but those sources didn't warn him of the intensity of it, it was like _really_ bad seawater and Harry had never quite enjoyed the sea.

Tom seemed to have noticed Harry's sudden draw-back and moved his arm away from his mouth to speak, "Something wrong precious?"

Harry looked at the dick he was holding before turning his eyes up to Tom, "No, it just doesn't taste so good apparently, I'll continue though." He stated the last part with finality, he wanted to do this, taste be damned.

Harry sucked on the head again, tasting what was left of the come, hoping the taste would get better or that he would adjust to it, but only managed to scrunch his face up at it as he continued to suck. The hand that had been muffling Tom's mouth came down to rest on his head, not pushing or pulling him, just resting there, the fingers messing into his untidy mop. Once again Harry tried to get the penis down his throat but was stopped by his own self-preserving body.

Harry wished he could just force it but it didn't seem to want to work that way. Tom's moans and pants were reaching a new high and Harry figured he must be close to cumming now so he gave up his hopes of fitting the whole thing in and set himself to sucking and licking on it fervently, his hand massaging the base were his mouth would not reach, the other hand gently fondling his balls.

Tom moved his other hand so that both were on the back of Harry's head and started moving it slightly, fastening the pace as Tom's noises filled the closet and Harry was sure both of them were thankful for privacy charms. Harry was staring upwards at Tom's face, wanting to see him when he came and just as Harry was sure Tom would come soon the older boy shot him an evil grin, pulled him back and came all over his face.

Coughing and spluttering it took Harry a moment for what had just happened to sink in.

And then he was cursing.

Tom had just enough time to put himself back in his pants, spell-clean the come off Harry's face and dodge out of the closet before Harry was tearing after him through the halls.

"You could have bloody well asked first you bastard!" Harry screeched as he charged after the manically laughing boy down the halls.

The chase lasted quite a while, Harry found Tom was as good at running away as he was and the two swapped spells every now and then, Harry would blast one Tom's way who would dodge and have it hit a wall instead, and Tom would send a charm or hex back it him to slow him down. Luckily for them it was dinner time so no one saw the precious head boy being hunted down by an enraged midget and when the two finally slowed down, panting and huffing as if they had never ran so much in their life, Harry pulled Tom into a nearby secret passage for a snogfest.

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	20. I'll Always be the One to Hope

The days passed easily enough, the weather slowly warming and sending Harry a reminder that it would be all too soon before he had to leave the place he called his home and return to his father, in their house where shadows grew darker in both home and heart, and too many words were left unspoken despite voices being raised so high.

Abraxas Malfoy was released from the hospital wing after a week and a half, having made a full recovery he was now putting the majority of his time into work he had missed as well as catching up with the latest news and gossip. So far he had not caused Harry any trouble, not so much as an ill-meant glance was sent his way. Harry wondered if it would last, currently he felt rather... off about the situation. He should be glad Malfoy no longer bothered him but he couldn't shake the feeling that it had been his fault Malfoy had ended up in such a state, something had happened, likely involving Tom, and the blond did not want to speak of it, when other students asked he diverted the conversation instead of basking in their attention.

Harry felt guilty.

Tom had since returned Harry's favour of getting down on his knees to suck on the other, Harry had found it a wildly enjoyable experience and could not wait to try more. The more he explored his sexuality and body the more he wanted and the closer he felt to the boy he fell in love with. Harry was sure he couldn't get any happier than when he was with Tom, they could be doing the most mundane things, like walking together through the halls, and yet Harry found himself in a good place, the arms of the other boy were his favourite accessory and he wouldn't trade them for the warmest jumper or blanket in the world.

Life was just so easy and happy when the whole world fit right inside your arms.

With the inevitable end of the year approaching tests and exams became more important to the student body, teachers were swamped with students asking questions and getting advice, which raised the levels of excitement in the teachers too, though not in a good way. Furthermore Professor Slughorn could not go ten minutes without an eager seventh year student approaching him about their future, after all it was well known that Slughorn had connections and liked to use them to benefit both himself and the students. Mostly himself.

Harry was pretty confident in his ability to handle the upcoming tests, with his love of knowledge and regular study sessions he was sure to ace them all easily and get his O.W.L.s without trouble.

And so it was both due to his confidence and the fact that he was a Slytherin, not a Gryffindor, that he was taken by surprise when Professor Dumbledore asked him to accompany him to his office. Harry had not displayed any desire to talk about his transfiguration work or the tests he would take on them, and if it was about the exams in general then he would be talking to Slughorn about them. So what did the old man want?

Walking to the transfiguration professors office was an awkward affair, the man seemed content to hum a tune as they walked, Harry stayed a few steps behind the teacher and tryed not to be blinded by his gaudy robes as passing students glanced at the pair, obviously thinking Harry had gotten into trouble.

The professors office was just as bright and extravagant as the man himself, covered in colourful decorations and shiny trinkets, though he did notice a good amount of bookshelves among the displays of shiny bits and pieces.

Dumbledore sat himself behind his large desk and looked up at Harry with a smile, eyes twinkling he offered, "Lemon drop my boy?" how Harry hated that, 'my boy' he scoffed mentally, he was no ones boy.

"No thanks. Sir, why exactly am I here?" Harry replied, sitting awkwardly on the chair in front of the desk.

"I merely wish to express my concerns for you my boy." Dumbledore explained, a concerned, grand-fatherly like look upon his face which Harry wasn't buying.

"About?" Harry pressed.

"Your..." Dumbledore seemed to struggle to find the right word, "relationship with Mister Riddle."

Of course, what else? "My relationship isn't really any concern of yours sir." Harry replied tersely, "Or any one else in the school. It's between myself and Tom."

"Ah, but as your teacher it is my responsibility to look out for my students." Dumbledore replied, quick as a whip, "I'm just not sure its entirely healthy for you to be in a relationship with him, he isn't the nicest person, polite as he is. I fear for you my boy."

Harry crossed his arms, leaning back in the chair a little, "Tom has done nothing to hurt me sir, and I don't expect he will. I can assure you your fears are for naught." Why did the old fool have to meddle?

"Not yet no, but I do worry about your future, if you wish to continue it with Tom. What should happen if he hurts you when there is no one to help? I have reason to suspect that he is the one that sent Abraxas Malfoy to the hospital wing an-"

Harry cut him off, "How would you know that?" He demanded, "If he did even do it, how would you _know_?"

Dumbledore sighed, "I have no solid proof yet, but I have reasons to suspect Mister Riddle of being behind quite a few things that have gone on at the school since he started here and I feel that that is enough to at least warn you my boy. If he can hurt his own friends then surely you yourself are not safe? He is a manipulator, if it would benefit him to harm you do you not think he would do it?" Dumbledore was silent for a moment while Harry scowled at him, "I don't mean for my words to hurt you my boy, I just wanted to warn you. If you heed my advice or not is your own choice."

"Thank you for your _concern_ professor," Harry said through gritted teeth, "but it really is unnecessary. May I go now?"

"You may." Dumbledore sighed, that old grandfatherly look on his face again.

Harry got up quickly and left the office, making his way swiftly down to the dungeons. How dare the old fool tell him his relationship was bad and that he should end it. He had gotten enough shit from the students when it started, not to mention Malfoy as well, he didn't need teachers butting in too.

"Someone steal your treacle?"

Harry turned, he had been walking so fast and lost in his own grumbling thoughts that he hadn't realized he had already made it down to the ground floor and had been walking past a section of wall that opened up into the grounds outside. Tom had been leaning against one of the pillars, he vaguely noticed a book that was now laying forgotten on the floor along with his school robe which he probably shed in favour of feeling the cool wind coming in, with the summer approaching such winds would be few and far between until the season ended.

The tall boy approached him, "Did Dumbledore tell you to dump me?"

Harry looked up at the other boy, damn his height, "How did you know?"

Tom cracked a smile that was too handsome for any face to legally have rights to, "He gave me the same speech, said he didn't want to see me hurt you, that I should leave you for your own good and that if I really cared I would stay away from you." Tom went on amused, "All that rot. I figured he must have gotten to you too, what with you stalking around like a cat that had its tail trodden on."

Harry grinned back, "Yeah, the old fool should really stay out of it."

"Not going to dump me now are you precious?" Tom asked in mock concern, smile still in place and _there_ was a name Harry rather liked to be called.

"Nah, then who would I use as a human pillow in the common room?"

"Cheeky sod." Tom replied, wrapping his arms around Harry's waist, Harry instantly relaxed into the other, enjoying the embrace.

Harry ended up joining Tom in sitting down and reading in the sunlight, leaning against the taller boy happily. Perhaps _now_ they could finally be left alone? Harry could only hope.

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	21. What it's Worth

Other than a few meaningful looks during classes and in the great hall Professor Dumbledore gave Harry no more trouble. Harry returned each of his concerned glances with ugly faces, huffing impatiently when the man did not relent. Tom had noticed too but made no actions against the professor other than to complain about it to his friends in the common room, they all hated Dumbledore so it gave them fuel to talk about yet another problem they had with the old coot.

Harry did not join in with the complaining, he certainly didn't like that Dumbledore saw fit to mess with his relationship and was never one for liking the professor due to his stance towards the house of snakes, but Harry felt that the old man had really been concerned and just wanted to warn him, even if he had no right to do so.

The grounds swarmed with students these days, all of them enjoying the rays of warm sun as they studied for exams or attempted to wind down from doing so, there was hardly a bit of ground outside that one could walk without seeing other students lurking about in sunny places, lounging like cats, playing games, or sitting comfortably together. Fifth and seventh year students were the most on edge, having to take the most important tests, but even they were seen relaxing in the good weather between visits to the library.

Harry's group of friends were personally enjoying the warm rays of light filtering in through the large window at their favourite haunt in the library, Monica had gathered up many pillows littered around the couches and seating areas so that she could lay among them under the warmth. Harry and Violet made sure Sam and Monica were up to date with their work, which wasn't hard with Sam as he usually timed himself well, and the group was sure they would do fine with their exams, there was no need for unnecessary panic.

Harry was walking with his friends to the great hall for dinner when they became aware of another person walking a few steps behind them, turning around they were faced with Abraxas Malfoy, the blond's eyes were glued to Harry, not even glancing at his friends, _just when I thought I was done with him._

They all stopped and Malfoy spoke, "I'd like to speak with you."

"Really?" Harry asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.

Malfoy briefly glanced at this friends before his eyes returned to him, "Yes. Alone."

"And why should I trust you?" Harry asked, not forgetting about the bruises he had gotten last time he was alone with Malfoy.

"I won't hurt you this time, I swear." and something in his voice made Harry believe him.

Harry sighed, he knew he might regret this, "Alright. Guy's you can go ahead alright?"

They agreed to leave him but all sent Malfoy hateful and distrusting glares as they turned and continued down the hall. Left alone in the empty hall the two were silent, Harry was glad for the few steps of distance between them, not at all prepared to get close to Malfoy. He got tired of waiting and was about to ask if Malfoy had wanted to talk at all when the blond opened his mouth.

"I'm sorry."

So odd it was to hear such words from the blond boys mouth, usually one to blame and belittle others and never take responsibility, "Are you?" his words were not accusatory, merely questioning.

"Yes. I... realize that what I did to you was wrong, I should not have pursued you in the way that I did." The blond had turned his head away and Harry could see it was taking a lot for him to say such things.

"Did Tom make you do this?" Harry wondered flatly, an apology meant _nothing_ if it was forced.

"No." Malfoy's hand was grabbing his other arm in a clear gesture of awkwardness, "I wasn't forced to do this. I... felt I should."

"Okay." Harry replied, waiting to hear more.

"I... was hurt when you rejected me, and in turn I hurt you. It was selfish of me and I should not have treated you the way I did... or have said the things I did." His eyes rose to meet Harry's again, "I'm sorry for hurting you. I've been really foolish lately and made a huge dick out of myself. I won't chase after you any more, even if you leave Tom. If you don't want me then I won't make a problem out of it."

Harry was surprised by the seventh year student, "I... Uh... Thanks. It means a lot to me that you apologized and won't continue what you were doing."

"So..." The blonds eyes met his, beseeching, "You forgive me?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess."

The blond smiled a bit, awkwardness still evident between them, and offered a hand, "Friends then?"

Harry took a moment to stare at the limb before he took it, "Sure, friends."

They then walked to the great hall together to join the rest of the students for dinner.

As they walked Harry asked, "Was Tom the reason you were sent to the hospital wing?"

The blond merely gave him a small smile and replied, "Does it matter? It's over now, let's not think on it."

Harry never thought that Malfoy would ever apologize, much less want to be friends with him, but he found himself glad for it. The two would most certainly but heads in the future but Harry hoped that their new found friendship would last, and perhaps in the process he could teach the blond to be more open to halfbloods and muggleborns. He could try at least, he doubted the older boy could really change that much.

When Tom saw the two enter the hall together he seemed to bristle with fury, Harry sat down next to him expecting what the other would ask.

"Is Malfoy causing you trouble again?" Tom hissed to him, eying the blond dangerously.

"Nope." He replied, happily piling up a plate with lamb chops and vegetables, "Actually he said he was sorry."

"He... apologized?" Tom obviously found it as hard to believe as Harry had.

"Yeah, even offered to be friends." As Harry stuffed a roasted sweet potato in his mouth he added, "Hope it lasts."

Tom turned back to his own dinner, seemingly in thought, "Well, it's better than you being at each others throats for the rest of the year."

Harry agreed.

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	22. Love is No Test

As Harry expected not everything was sunshine and rainbows after he and Malfoy called a truce, they still butted heads often and there were a few hexes thrown about the common room every now and then, but their fights ended in apologies now instead of trips to the hospital wing, which Harry supposed was an improvement.

All too soon it was time for the students to take their exams and for the first time Harry was feeling nervous, he knew he could perform everything that would be expected for his year level, higher even, but he worried that he might fumble something in front of a scrutinizing examiner or that they might just not like him. He had finished up most of the written tests as well as being called into a room for the examiners to witness what he was capable of casting. He only had to do one more practical examination and he was done.

He envied Monica who happily bounced into each exam, completely unfazed despite not being the smartest nor most competent student of their year. Sam went with more dignity, only the shaking of his hands giving himself away as he attempted to hold his head high. Harry only hoped he would be able to enter the room without making a complete fool of himself.

For the past few weeks the student's schedules had been filled with tests and exams, today would be the last of them, specifically the one Harry was waiting to complete was in the last portion of the tests. Harry knew Tom's exams had been two days prior as the tall boy had been pouring over books for the days leading up to them, Harry didn't know why as it was clear Tom would pass any test with flying colours even if he _didn't_ expect it but the older boy merely said he wanted to be prepared and that it was always good to know more before hand, even if the knowledge wouldn't be used.

Finally it was his turn, entering the room he walked up to the examiner who instructed him what to do and he did so, adding as much power as he could into each spell while simultaneously keeping them under his control. Luckily the last subject was defense against the dark arts, which Harry excelled in and so he found all the spells to be very easy, the examiner noticed this and talked to him about the subject, confirming that Harry was indeed good at it and even asked him if he could show the man higher level spells, which he happily did and ended up walking out knowing that he had certainly passed that one.

Sighing happily Harry was glad to finally have the tests over, now he just had to wait to get his results owled to him, he would know in the summer how well he did and until then he may as well relax. He knew his friends, Monica specifically, had intended to celebrate the last day of their exams with a feast filled with food nicked from the kitchen, or perhaps nicked was not the right word as the house elves practically and quite happily _threw_ food at whoever entered the hidden entrance.

Due to the celebration being between multiple houses it was to be held out on the grounds, in a rose garden close to the castle, Harry remembered Tom kissing him there with a pleased sigh, back in those days he had thought the older boy to simply be messing with him. The garden overlooked the lake with a good view of where the sun would set behind the distant mountains. A perfect place to have a party after so many stressful days.

When Harry arrived he found many people already there, Monica and Sam were setting up food on conjured, leg-less tabletops that had been charmed to float at a decent height. Tom was there with all his Slytherin friends, all of them having been invited by an over-excited Monica and surprisingly few being opposed to the idea of a food-filled celebration. Harry even saw some Ravenclaw and Gryffindor students he wasn't too familiar with hanging about as well, either knowing Tom's group of friends or Harry's own, he was sure many of the Ravenclaw's would have been invited by Violet who was checking out how many different kinds of foods Monica had managed to pilfer.

Tom had seen him and approached, "How did your test go precious?"

"Is that how you greet me?" Harry asked in amusement, wrapping his arms around the tall boys neck and grinning up at him, Tom grinned back and bent down to kiss the short boy, after which Harry continued, "It went fine. Best subject."

The two loosened their grip on each other to turn towards the garden, "Your friends are certainly excited to have this party." Tom commented, "I must admit they have done well with procuring the food and means to set it up."

Harry grinned, "They _are_ Hufflepuffs." Was his only comment as they walked towards the group of happily chatting students.

"Harry!" Monica shouted in greeting after finishing setting up what looked to be the last table of food, "Like it?"

Harry beamed at her, "It's brilliant! You guys did a great job!"

"It's nice and close to the castle too!" Sam butted in, "So we can head inside easily if it gets past curfew."

"Stiff." Monica said, jutting an elbow into Sam's ribs before turning back to Harry, "My only regret is that I couldn't get my hands on any music, I was too busy grabbing food."

A shout sounded a few thorny hedges away, "We got it covered!" The group turned around to see Lestrange and Nott carrying a record player into the garden and setting it up.

Monica stared owlishly, "Where did you get that? I looked everywhere for one!"

"Nicked it from Slughorn's office!" Lestrange replied, everyone laughing at that, knowing that Slughorn probably wouldn't be too angry if he found out as long as it was brought back in one piece.

The two Slytherins set up the music easily enough and the garden was filled with the sounds of happy tunes and chatting students, the sweet scent of some of the foods mixing with the aroma of blooming roses. Harry stuck with Tom for some of it before being pulled away by his friends, Monica putting on jumpy tunes and dancing around to them without a care, laughing along with the students that could not contain themselves at her behavior. Harry found himself overjoyed at the party and the fact that there were students from every house there, enjoying the company and shenanigans. The bright sun climbing its way from its position over the castle grounds to head over the lake, casting it into a warm golden shine that reflected a burnt glow on the surroundings, seemingly setting the colourful roses alight.

Harry was busy watching the beautiful lade-side scenery when a hand was placed on his arm, looking the other way he met Tom's dark eyes before soft lips were upon him, those arms moving down to his hips, he vaguely heard an amused and mocking 'ooh!' from Monica as his thoughts were taken over by that wonderful, _and deliciously sweet?_ , mouth.

Pulling back he only sported a questioning look for a moment before a half-eaten slice of treacle tart was held up before him, grinning he quickly took a bite before Tom could pull it away and laughed at the tall boy's indignant look.

The other students were converging in the same spot as them now, all silently looking out over the lake as they watched the sun steadily descend behind the mountains, the golden glow reaching a crescendo before the orb started being hidden by tall and jagged peaks, the sky turning red and pink and then purple, the few scattered clouds in the sky taking on an orange glow. An entire rainbow of warmth flooding over the sky before darkness overtook it and they would be forced to move inside the castle.

Harry rested himself against Tom, their hands gripping each other tightly even as their eyes stayed fixated on the scene before them.

 

* * *

 

 

Harry spent a lot of time after their end-of-exam party with Tom as there were only a few days left before the summer break.

The clean-up of the party was made easier with the fact that many of the students that had participated offered to help. The Slytherins had returned Slughorn's music player, the potions professor easily letting them off the hook without so much as a punishment. And if a few students had had hangovers after the party? Well everyone simply turned a blind eye, not wanting to ruin anyone's good mood in the hopes of ending the school year on a positive note.

For Harry the end of year wasn't too positive no matter what anyone could do, even after such a fun party it still meant he had to leave Hogwarts to return to his muggle home in the middle of muggle suburbs. It also meant that he would not see Tom until the next year, as the older boy lived in a muggle orphanage and informed him it probably wouldn't be good to visit him for several reasons, Harry couldn't even send Hedwig with mail to Tom as the muggles he lived with would start asking questions about why owls were delivering letters, he also told Harry that the matrons would likely read the letters before they let Tom have them anyway.

And so it was with an inexplicable weight on his shoulders that he watched Hogwarts castle become a smaller and smaller feature in the scenic view of the train window, he sat with Tom in a compartment filled with other Slytherins, Sam and Monica were in another with Violet and some of their housemates. Despite the fact that he was still with Tom for the next few hours he could not shake the feeling that there was already a distance between them, like a dark, gaping hole that sucked the contents of his chest into it with no hope of fishing them out.

They didn't talk much during the train ride, only a few words exchanged every now and then, despite the compartment being full of chatty students. Their hands remained clasped together tightly as Harry watched the world outside the window speed past them, hardly noticing it change between flowering fields, open lakes or dense forests.

When the train reached kings cross station the two pulled their luggage over to a discreet corner and held each other for a while, Harry basked in what would probably be their last moment together for what felt to him to be far too long a time. Harry wished the two could run away together right then and there, that they could go get lost and never be found. But he knew they both had to go their respective residencies until the next school year came around, Harry just hoped the lack of communication wouldn't put a rift between them.

Sighing unhappily they exited the barrier together, both pushing their trunks along on rickety trolleys, Hedwig balancing herself in the shaking cage and giving Harry a dirty look, as they made their way directly out into the car park outside. Harry's father was not yet there but he saw a women dressed in nun clothes sitting in the seat of a standard Flying Ten beckon Tom over, it was clear from the older boy's expression that the woman was from the orphanage. Tom shot Harry one last meaningful look before he shoved his trunk into the car and got inside himself, Harry watched as the automobile's engine made loud popping sounds as it started up and drove away, Tom watching him through the dirty window.

The car turned a corner around some dark buildings and just like that Tom was gone. Harry's heart felt tight and he desperately wished to chase after the noisy car, to grab Tom and never let him go, to loosen the invisible rope that seemed intent on crushing the vital organ in his chest.

Harry was left waiting around for about an hour before a dark 1940's Cadillac pulled up with his father inside, unlike the nun his father got out of his car to help Harry shove his trunk inside, Harry making sure Hedwig was placed down gently without the chance of her cage getting tipped over before he got in the front passenger seat.

And, with far less noise than the orphanage one, the car started up and took him away from the train station. _Let the summer begin_ , Harry thought with a heavy heart.

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	23. Shadows Grow Darker

Harry's father did not talk to him much, other than a greeting the car ride home was spent in tense silence. It wasn't anything Harry was unaccustomed to, his father being a devout pastor and he an unbelieving _wizard_ put distance between the two, more often it was best to stay quiet than to risk an argument. Any conversation they did have tended to be bland and filled with small talk.

Sometimes Harry wished he could have a closer relationship with the one parent he had but the old man was too set in his ways to put aside their differences and talk to his son like they were actually a family and not just two people living together without a choice.

He supposed things could be worse between them, his father may have raised his voice many times, and kept his silence at others, but he had never raised a hand at Harry, had never struck him aside from when he was a whiny child in need of discipline.

Harry thought back to the day when his mother had died in the car crash that should have killed him as well, his father had seemed stressed then, rushing about and asking questions, but Harry quickly realized there wasn't much grief inside the man, he didn't know much about romantic relationships back then but he supposed his parents had already been falling out of love. His father's main concern had been Harry at the time, not his dead wife, a fact that gave Harry a bitter taste in his mouth, the woman that had died that day was his mother after all and _he_ still had some good memories of her, even if he couldn't remember her face.

His father had been loud that day.

Harry wouldn't say that the two weren't close during the years after his mothers death, but his unspoken lack of faith and realization that his father did not care for his deceased mother had put distance between them even then. Harry hadn't been ready to tell his father that he did not believe that there was a giant person in the sky judging people for simply being human, it wasn't until he was nine years old that he did tell him, or rather shouted it at his father when the man was insisting Harry put more effort into the religion.

As expected his father had not taken the news of that too well and the two had argued loudly, his father telling him that he was straying from God's path and that he was dooming himself and all that rot, but Harry had not relented, he could not believe in the same thing as his father did. Eventually the man had relented but there was a darkness that hovered over the house and followed the two, like someone had let in a storm cloud that did not wish to leave until everything was sodden and splintering.

His father had been simultaneously loud and all too quiet that day.

The day that Harry learnt the weird things he could do was magic and that there was a hidden world beyond the muggle view had been another remarkable day in his life. Dumbledore had come to see him and tell him what he was and that he would go to a school full of magic to learn even more. It had been wonderful news to him, he had always loved the fairy tales his mother read to him every night and now it seemed he was to be part of one.

His father had not taken the news in the same light as him, questioning the old wizard rigorously and attempting to talk the wizard out of having Harry go to Hogwarts. Harry had been angered by his father's actions, it was _his_ life, not his fathers, and he would make his own choices without the man stopping him. But at the same time he could understand the mans concerns, his entire life beliefs were being shaken down in front of him by a stranger he had never met before. In the past they had ignored Harry's strange abilities, his father putting it down to God protecting him as it usually only happened when Harry was in trouble or need. But now it was so much more and very different to what the man had tried to play it off as.

Once Dumbledore had left, giving Harry his letter with the list of things he would need, his father had refused to look him in the eye, not speaking and leaving the room if Harry entered it when he was inside.

His father had been silent that day.

The silence had seemed to become drawn out, the two growing further and further apart, like they were sitting on opposite sides of a gorge that only got wider as each day passed and Harry wondered when he would no longer be able to see the man he had once looked up to as a toddler, before his mother died, before he confessed his lack of faith, before his father looked at him like he was a freak. Harry had already begun to realize though that that man may never have truly existed at all.

The house he returned to that summer would have looked bright, clean and expensive to anyone else but to Harry there were shadows in every corner, leeching over the white walls and consuming the fancy objects littered about on neat tables and counters, licking at his arms and legs as he walked the narrow halls.

Harry did not have many possessions, only a few toys from before he had started going to Hogwarts laying about forgotten in his room, a room that was mostly empty and hardly lived in, Harry supposed it was a testament to the fact that he felt Hogwarts was his one true home. Harry was fine with not having much though, it meant he had time to put into doing his summer homework and going over the theory for spells he had yet to try but would once he got back to the castle.

Harry also helped with cooking, cleaning and tending to the garden when it wasn't so hot outside. His father wasn't good at those things so once Harry had been old enough he had taken over doing them, he rather liked cooking and spending time with pretty flowers and didn't care if some people labelled him being girly because of it, Harry didn't think it was a girly thing to look after yourself and others. It also gave him something to do, he found it was easier to deal with hard homework questions if he left the parchment in favour of scrubbing dishes and let his mind think on it, it also gave him reasons not to be in the same room as his father as he simply couldn't handle how thick the air became when they stayed in the same room for very long, sitting to eat dinner together was the longest they stayed near each other.

Harry was glad that his fathers duties as a pastor kept the man busy in the summer so he often had the house to himself, the shadows all over the place receding slightly, if only for a short while.

There was _one_ issue though, Harry felt he should tell his father about Tom. Despite their lack of closeness he felt he needed to do it, to tell his father he was in love with another boy and hope that his father would not look down upon him too much for it. Harry knew it was inevitable that his father would disapprove but Harry didn't want to hide that part of himself, family was an important thing to Harry and he wanted Tom to be a part of his, a hopefully accepted part.

He wanted his father to know, to understand and hopefully be proud of the fact that Harry had managed to fall in love with someone, to concentrate on the fact that Tom was so great and smart and that he loved Harry back, not on the fact that they were both male. He wanted to be able to talk about Tom and hopefully be able to invite him over to their house one day without having to hide the reasons why.

Harry knew he was probably thinking too wishfully, he knew his father didn't approve of homosexuality but he couldn't help hoping he, as his son, would be a different case, that his father would bare it for him.

He would only know once he told him.

 

* * *

 

 

His chance came during dinner a few days after the start of summer.

His father had been out working all day and still had his pastor garments on, Harry really wished that the man had changed before dinner as the clothes got his nerves shooting to the heated sky but he knew the man never saw any point in it, the clothes being an everyday thing to him.

Harry had cooked a rather bountiful meal for just two people in preparation to confess his sexuality to his father, the table laid out nicely with candles and dishes of buttered vegetables and seasoned meats and yet Harry had no thoughts for any of them, only filling his plate with mechanical actions, barely noticing or caring what was piled upon it.

When his father started eating Harry took his chance and spoke, "Father, I'd like to tell you something." Harry hoped his voice hadn't shaken too much, he felt like something in his throat had dislodged itself.

"And what is that?" His father prompted before putting another bit of potato in his mouth.

"Well... I got into a relationship since winter..." Harry tried to ease into breaking the news.

"Really? Another magical person I suppose?" Harry didn't miss the way his father's voice wavered over 'magical person' like he could barely bring himself to say the word magic, he hadn't even bothered saying witch or wizard and Harry wasn't sure if he should be glad of that.

"Yeah... They are in the same house as me but a year older..." Harry coughed in an attempt to get his voice back under control, he felt like his ribs were trying to rip through his sides and turn into wings. Harry almost wished they would so he could fly away from this conversation.

His father seemed oblivious to his nervousness as he continued eating, "Well it's not bad to date someone older than yourself, what's she like?"

"Well... _they_ are very smart... real classy..." Harry decided it was now or never as he felt his body continue its 'flight' reactions, "Also... they are a boy..."

His father stopped eating and looked at him with narrowed eyes, turning his head a little as if to hear Harry better, "What was that?"

Harry wasn't even holding his eating utensils anymore, "They..." his voice rose and he ended up almost shouting the words, "He's a boy! I have a boyfriend!"

His father leant back in his chair, putting his elbows on the table and crossing his fingers, "No you don't." He spoke calmly and with finality.

Harry felt a heat stir within him, boiling in the center of his chest and rising up the back of his neck, he stood and slammed his hands on the table, "Yes I do! I have a boyfriend dad! I'm gay!"

His father did not rise, "Think about what you are saying boy-"

Harry cut him off, tears welling and stinging his eyes, "I know what I'm saying! I love him dad!"

His father rose, a dark expression on his face, "You go against God by saying these things, is that what you want?"

"I don't give a _fuck_ about God dad! I don't even think he exists! _I_ exist though! Don't _I_ matter to you?!"

His fathers voice was filled with venom, "If you have any sense child you will stop seeing this boy before things go too far. I won't stand for that. It's enough that you're as foolish as your mother and _magical_ to boot, I won't stand for having a _fag_ for a son!"

Harry flinched as if he was struck, it hurt more than he could describe for his father to have called him such a thing, getting some of his strength back he shouted back in a shaky voice, "Well you'll have to stand for it, because that's what I am! I love him and you denying my feelings won't change that!" breathing in deeply, "We even fucked, okay!"

The look his father gave him held so much hate that Harry could not utter a word as the man stormed out of the kitchen, a few seconds later a crashing sound signified the man had left the house.

Harry sat back down at the table, uninterested in the vast amount of food before him, the fire in his chest feeling like it had been doused with ice water.

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	24. This is the Part Where I Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> RATING HAS BEEN CHANGED TO EXPLICIT - DO NOT READ FURTHER IF THAT BOTHERS YOU
> 
> Thanks to everyone who helped me out after that last chapter! Really appreciated!

Harry was left sitting at the dining table in a stunned silence for so long that by the time he finally pieced himself back together and started to clear away the forgotten meal it had already grown cold.

He shoved everything salvageable into their fridge and threw the rest outside into a compost bin before heading into the bathroom, he filled the small tub with steaming water and let it fill as he ripped his clothes off, barely caring when the heat of the water hurt him as he slipped into the tub. The water wasn't so hot as to scald him and Harry welcomed the small amount of pain as it brought his foggy head slightly back to the earth again.

The world kept spinning around him and he found himself unable to take hold onto a single coherent thought, he barely registered his neck rotating his head about randomly as if to follow the moving walls as they swayed about the bright room, his body rocking back and forth from his hips upwards.

He attempted to direct his eyes in front of him, to stop their incessant moving, as he lay backwards, letting the over-warm water swallow him up, feeling his dark, messy hair swish into his face as he closed his mouth.

Staring up through the water at the roof, which was finally not moving, Harry vaguely thought he felt like one of those pose-able wooden dolls, with his joint all out of place yet exactly where they should be, he felt like he was under the influence of something strong.

Harry's eyes started to sting from holding them open under the water, his chest constricting as if being crushed by a mighty weight and his mouth and nose begging to take in air despite the fact that they would only find lung-filling water.

Harry stayed under the water for a few seconds more, allowing himself to feel his bodies protests before he gripped the sides of the tub and hauled himself up, gasping loudly.

Wet hands moved hair from his face, water pouring down his cheeks and dripping over his nose. He grabbed a bar of soap and began rubbing it down his legs, to give his hands something to do, to give his eyes something to center on, to keep his mind in one place, he didn't know but it seemed to work for whatever purpose he had done it for.

Only when the water was cold and foggy from soap did he lift himself from it, rinsing the suds off himself in a stream of water from the shower head, uncaring that the water from it was freezing cold, before wrapping a towel around himself and heading out into the hall, not bothering to do anything about the clothes he left scattered around the bathroom floor.

He stumbled down the hallway, keeping a tentative hand on the wall as his eyes seemed to forget their purpose once again, he got halfway to his bedroom before he heard the sound of heavy feet, turning slightly in the direction of the noise his mind supplied for him that his father must have returned home at some point while he was in the bathtub. Harry vaguely thought about calling out to him but a jolt in his chest stopped him, did he want to face the man so soon after their argument? No. He turned back to continue down the hall again but didn't make a single step as he heard the boots approach him, stop close behind his back, then suddenly there was a cloth over his mouth and everything was filled with chemicals.

And then nothing.

When he awoke the first thing he noticed was that something was chaffing his wrists, rough in texture and holding him up, the next was that he was still naked but without his towel. Blinking his eyes he found himself to be in their dark cellar, wine racks and dusty wooden shelves pushed up against the walls with spiders making their homes among them. His mind was sluggish as he wondered what he could be doing down here, hadn't he been heading to his bedroom? Attempting to shift his legs he found them bound too, the ropes on his limbs holding him up spread-eagle with only a little room to move them.

A light flashing on caused him to shut his eyes quickly before squinting them open and adjusting to the yellow glow the simple hanging bulb cast upon the cellar, the weak light not making it to the darkest corners but doing enough for Harry to see his father across the room from him, standing at the power switch.

"Dad?" Harry's croaked out, his voice weak and filled with confusion, why were they down here? "What's going on?"

His father did not reply, his eyes hard like cold stones and his face expressionless in the shadows of the light as he slowly approached, Harry wondered if he would untie him, it wasn't very comfortable to be strung up with such harsh ropes. His eyes still stung from the bath making it hard to see, the dimness of the light not helping, and his mind kept rolling over and over, he wished it would stop, that he would think more clearly, he was sure this wasn't right, this wasn't ordinary.

His father stopped a few steps away, turning his attention to items on one of the wooden shelves, as if Harry wasn't there at all.

"Hey," Harry tried again, his voice like cracked pavement, "Don't ignore me, whats going on?" He attempted to tug on the ropes, seeing if any would come loose.

"Be still." Harry stopped moving and snapped his head over to look at his father, the man still paying more attention to the shapes Harry's tired eyes couldn't make out.

"Are you gonna tell me whats going on?" Harry asked, voice slurring his words together.

His father turned to him, a dark object in his hand, "I am going to punish you."

The first spike of panic jolted like static in his chest, "Punish me? Why?"

"Because you are a sinner. By declaring yourself homosexual you have fallen from God's path and into the hands of the devil, the things you have done with that _other boy_ are illegal-"

"Not in the wizarding world they aren't." Harry butt in, having read books on wizarding laws he found that unlike muggles they held no prejudice against sexuality or skin colour in their world, and surely his father wasn't serious? He was his son!

"I don't _care_ what those _sinners_ think, they would deliver you to Satan." His father approached him, the start of adrenaline had his eyes seeing better now and Harry could see that he was holding a small whip, he wasn't going to _use_ that was he? "You are a _child_ and it is my duty as your parent to punish you, to show you _God's will_."

"That's crazy! Whipping me won't make me believe in God and it certainly won't change how I feel for Tom!"

His father raised the whip and Harry's wide eyes followed it, his heart beating erratically, "If I had my way _that boy_ would be punished too, people like _that_ need to learn that what they do is wrong." and the whip was brought down.

Harry cried out as it made contact with his skin, his scream filling the room momentarily, the strike leaving a gash on his side, the soft skin torn by the rubbery material.

"Don't." Harry pleaded shakily as the whip was raised again, his father didn't seem to hear him, if he did then he clearly didn't care for his sons pleading, not looking him in the eye as he brought the whip down again and it _hurt_ , oh _Merlin_ did it hurt. Hot tears ran down his face as another tear opened on his skin and blood welled down his leg.

His father continued to bring the whip down upon his skin, Harry tried to steady himself for each lash but found it impossible to block out the sudden, striking pain. His cries coming out shrilly as each new blow tore him open and he felt hot, sticky blood run down his clean, pale skin. Harry's voice grew hoarse from the screams he could not hold back, blood trickled from his mouth as he bit his cheeks and tongue every few lashes, his legs and sides covered in an odd pattern of red slashes.

Harry had flinched with each blow, still not given up the hope of staving off the pain, and blinked his eyes open tentatively when the next lash did not come, instead his father had returned to the shelf, Harry sighed lightly, his body relaxing, hoping it was finally over, that he would be let down and could tend to his wounds, he briefly thought on the fact that he would likely need to bath again, but his father seemed intent on messing with something on the shelf making worry bubble up inside him, what more could he do? _Do you really want to know?_

"Father," Harry panted desperately, "Dad... Please." He just wanted to be let go, he didn't want to suffer more, he hadn't done anything wrong! Couldn't his father see what madness this was?

His father turned to him, "Do you denounce those sinful feelings? Do you give in the God's righteous will?"

He couldn't, it wasn't right, "No." He whispered out harshly, voice shaking, heart boxing his rib cage.

"Then we aren't finished here yet." His father stated, reaching for the object on the shelf he had been messing with, it was black and cone shaped, Harry had no idea what it was meant to be or how it would be used, "I'll show you just how wrong the path you walk is."

His father approached him and lowered the object between his legs, Harry could see it was slicked with what looked to be lube and the sudden realization of what the object was for had him shouting, "Father! Please don't do this!" The object was too large, it would tear him apart! His father didn't seem to care as he knelt down to position the object, Harry squirmed in the bonds, desperately trying to get loose and run away before that _thing_ was put inside him. His father grabbed one of his legs, thumb-nail digging into one of the many cuts and making him cry out.

With the hand on his leg steadying his squirming he felt the lubed thing bump against his anus and his heart just about jumped out of his chest as tears and snot streamed down his face, his words meshing together in a constant, drowned-out plea of mercy. A plea that fell on uncaring ears as the hand on his leg gripped tighter, wounds being pulled and stabbed into, and the object was rammed upwards, Harry's body resisted it but the pushing did not stop and he felt the small tip of the cone intrude into his body, Harry screamed as it penetrated him, thrashing about and pleading for his father to stop, to take the object out and to let him go. The cone slid in deeper and stretched him as it got wider and he screamed more, without any preparation or lubing he felt nothing but pain and discomfort as his body was violated by the dark object.

As the object got as wide as his wrist Harry felt himself tear and screamed ever louder, his whole backside was on fire, his spine growing sore and his legs shaking from the pain of stretching. His surroundings were a wet blur as tears blinded his eyes and he chocked on his sobs, tasting the snot dripping over the top of his lip.

The cone continued being pushed in, breaking more skin and tearing screams from his ragged throat, until it finally stopped, which Harry was glad for but it was so wide that he could not stop his crying, wishing for the immediate removal of the unwanted object.

His father stood from the position between his legs and took a step back, Harry wasn't sure if the man was watching him as the cellar was now made up of coloured blurs to his stinging, half-blinded eyes.

Through his pain Harry wondered how the man could do this to him, weren't family meant to protect and look after each other? Family wasn't supposed to whip and torture each other! Couldn't his father see how wrong this was? Why couldn't he just let him down and stop this?

"Have you learnt your lesson yet boy?" His father asked and Harry barely recognized the mans voice, this wasn't the man he knew, or was that a false image that had finally been shattered?

"Please..." Harry begged, the word was met with a growl and a kick that landed between his legs where both his ball-sack and the object were, momentarily crushing his balls and shoving the object further inside him, causing him to scream again, the sound filling the dank room and shaking off the walls.

Harry hurt. His ass hurt, his back hurt, his wrists hurt, the cuts on his body hurt, his mouth hurt, his eyes hurt, the constant crying and screaming caused his head to hurt. His entire being hurt inside and out and yet there was no escape from the onslaught of pain.

Harry hung his head, giving up his begging as it got him nowhere with the man, his tears dropping onto the concrete below him, mingling with the blood already there from his numerous wounds.

His head was spinning again, his tired body running out of adrenaline as fluids ran freely from it, his heart burned like a spike of molten earth was lodged inside it, his throat was clogged with saliva and mucus, and his lungs were on fire from screaming for so long and so hard.

Finally darkness took him.

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	25. Lost and Found

When consciousness returned to Harry the first thing his groggy mind registered was that he was moving while laying on his back, trying to get his bearings he noticed there were a lot of people around, one person was standing over him, walking as he was moved, to _where_ he did not know, he did know though that the person was hiding a wand back up their sleeve, said sleeve being in his direct line of sight and in front of his face.

A wizard. He was saved.

Lazily moving his eyes about in their burning sockets he noticed that while many of the people seemed to be muggles a good amount of them had wand holsters, how could the muggles not notice he did not know, nor did he have the mental activity to ponder the workings in place to hide his world from such daft people.

He noticed his father being surrounded by muggle and wizard alike, all of them speaking with him, before he registered that the man who had likely spelled him awake with an 'Rennervate' was trying to talk to him, he picked up the words 'it's okay now' and 'taking you to Saint Mungo's, they'll fix you up' before he lost his hold on the fast paced voice again.

He was being taken to his world, he wasn't being thrown in prison for being homosexual.

Sighing he let darkness take him again as he only vaguely registered being lifted into a cab.

 

* * *

 

The next time Harry awoke he quickly squinted his eyes shut again for the brightness that surrounded him, he was in a white room, a window had been left open and the sun was glaring through the glass, lighting up the pale walls like the inside of a light globe.

Blinking a few times to adjust his eyes to the harsh light he realized that he must be in Saint Mungo's magical hospital, lifting his blanket he saw delicate linens taped onto his legs, likely holding a salve in place over his cuts. Shifting a bit he felt his arse and spine tingle in pain, like a poorly made construction threatening to collapse. Not wishing to test the extent of his wounds or the healing upon them he lay back down on the squishy pillows.

Pushing his mind to wake up more he tried to recall what had happened, images of the dim cellar and ropes and whips assaulted him, the sight of _that cone_ in his mind had him whimpering and drawing the covers up over his head.

_How could this have happened?_

He knew he and his father had their many differences but he had never in his life imagined that the man who helped bring him into this world would hate him so much. Never had he thought that he would be unsafe with a person he had been taught his whole life would look out for him, parents were supposed to love and care for their children, _wasn't it an unconditional thing?_

Yet here he was, proof that a father can hate their own child enough to have him end up in such a place. The knowledge that his father must hate him had that painful spike return to lodge itself squarely in his chest. He wondered when he would see the man again, would his father hit him? Would this happen again?

Harry curled himself up under the blanket, pulling it over his head and not caring when his muscles protested at the movement. Hugging his legs Harry almost felt like he wasn't even part of the world at all at that moment, just a lonely bit of nothing drifting through the empty, white space that was under the covers. The thin, white material coupled with the rays from the sun allowed beams of light into his hideout, letting him see the contours of his own body and the measures taken to preserve it.

He tried to find a safe place to be, because right now 'safe' felt far too valuable and far away.

He felt at peace under the blanket, his breathing relaxing and the ache in his chest slipping to the back of his mind, wrapped in a protective shell that was as delicate as he felt.

No matter how much peace he found wrapped up in his own cocoon Harry could not help but feel that things were not quite right. He almost wanted to believe it had never happened, that he would wake up and find that he had fallen asleep in that bath, that he would go down the stairs and find his father and that they would be alright, that his father would not hurt him.

But he knew that the world outside his fort was blank and white and sterile. That there was no love out there for him, not from that man at least.

He barely noticed when the sheets under his cheek started getting wet.

Harry didn't keep track of time while he hid from the world, trying to be as disconnected from the earth as possible, but every so often mediwitches would come in and tend to him, checking his bandages and casting spells on him, even getting him to swallow down some nasty potions. He gave no protest to any of this, despite the disgusting flavour of the brews, the discomfort he felt from having the sticky linens peeled from his sensitive body, or the boredom of having to lay still while spells washed over him. He supposed that at least some of the spells felt nice and he was assured that he shouldn't have any permanent damage once he was healed.

He didn't ask about his father, he wasn't sure how to and every time he tried to open his mouth he felt like a frog had dived into it, blocking anything that might have come out and causing him to swallow heavily.

 

* * *

 

Harry stayed at the hospital over night, and then the next too. Harry wasn't sure when they were going to release him but most of his wounds had healed into nothing more than tiny scratches and sore muscles that worked just fine. Harry wasn't about to ask what would happen when they did let him go, he would just wait and see, and face whatever it was, despite the thought of facing his father terrifying him to no extent.

During Harry's third day of sitting awake and bored in the hospital bed he was visited by none other than Albus Dumbledore, the door being knocked on gently before the tall, old man entered with a small but kind smile.

"Hello, my boy." The man greeted as he transfigured the stiff chair beside the bed into a more comfortable one.

Harry had to clear his throat before he could talk, this being the first time he would properly speak after the incident, "hello sir," he greeted neutrally, "Why are you here?"

"Ah, well, Dippet was a bit busy so as the deputy headmaster I came in his stead."

That didn't really explain anything. "Yes, but _why_ are you here sir?"

Dumbledore's smile vanished somewhat, "Well there's some things we must discuss my boy." despite his tone still being light Harry could sense the serious mood settling in over them and gave the old man his full attention, "You see, you won't be returning to your father's care."

"What?" Was all Harry could manage to say, he wouldn't see his father again? He didn't think of that being a possibility.

"Indeed, I'm sorry my boy but after the way he treated you we cannot allow you to stay with him, as he isn't a wizard he won't be getting trialed by us, he will face a muggle court under changes of child abuse, whatever punishment he gets is in their hands, but as _you_ are a wizard and thus protected by our laws we have deemed it necessary to take you out of his care."

Harry wasn't sure what to say, he was relieved that he wouldn't have to face his father again, never even see him again possibly, but at the same time... he had now lost the only family he had left. The thought bringing back that nasty spike of pain. Then there was another problem, "Where will I go sir?"

"Usually we would have you handed over to your closest of kin or a godparent but it seems that you have neither, not surprising considering there is so much going on with both muggle and wizarding wars. Also as it is such short notice we don't have any family homes to send you to, we could try to contact some wizard family's that would be willing to take you in if that is what you wish, but until then I have a suggestion that you might not be adverse to."

Harry had known that he had no relatives or even anyone close to him to take him in so the first part wasn't surprising, the next merely had him wonder what it would be like to live with a purely magical family, even if he would not be truly part of it, the last one had him wondering where the old man was going, "And what would that be sir?" he prompted.

"Wool's Orphanage might just be convinced to take you in." Dumbledore answered cheerfully, Harry was sure the name was familiar somehow but it was slipping from his grasp, what he did know though was that when Dumbledore said 'might just be convinced' likely meant that there would be magic involved if they didn't willingly take him. Harry wondered just how legal that was.

The fact that he could not place why the name was familiar was making his mind itch, "Why this place sir?"

Dumbledore merely smiled serenely up at him from his place on the comfy chair, "Because you will not be the only wizard there, indeed I know for sure that Mister Riddle resides there."

Harry felt stupid, of course that was why a _muggle orphanage_ sounded familiar to him, "But... I thought you disapproved of my relationship with Tom?"

"Indeed I do Harry," The old man replied honestly, "But I never said I would keep the two of you apart, your choices are your own my boy. In addition, given current circumstances I think it would be best for you to be sent there to be with him, you will have something familiar waiting for you there then."

Tears started welling in his eyes, he could see Tom! The thought of having those arms wrapped around him at that moment made his heart ache to be there now. Rubbing the tears from his eyes, "Thank you sir, I would like to go there."

"Good, we'll make all of the arrangements, we can send some people to get your things from your fathers house, you don't have to be near him, you just stay here and heal up more until we come get you." Dumbledore stood, patted his shoulder as Harry continued to wipe away tears, and took a few steps towards the door before turning back to add, "I almost forgot, you won't be able to have your owl at the orphanage, she might disturb the muggles, she is welcome to stay at Hogwarts though, she will be well cared there."

Harry nodded, face still in hands and croaked out a "Thank you sir." before he heard the door quietly shut.

So that was it. It was over now. He would never see his father again.

The tears started falling with renewed vigor.

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	26. You're Something Special

It was morning when Harry awoke, the sound of people shifting about in the halls stirring him to life. He was completely healed now, aside from a few pains in an unmentionable place every time he had to go to the bathroom. He was rid of the linens and their sticky pastes, his back no longer feeling like it would crumble and his wrists and ankles without a mark.

He was more than ready to leave the hospital now, long since having tired of the plain, white scenery and lack of entertainment in a room that had begun to feel like a cell. As he had suspected the people outside opened his door, Albus Dumbledore strode in wearing his usual serene smile and gaudy robes, he was followed by a mediwitch and mediwizard.

Dumbledore explained to him the obvious fact that it was time for him to leave the hospital in favour of starting to live at the orphanage, the old man informed him that his belongings had been collected already and would be waiting for him, minus Hedwig's cage which had been taken to Hogwarts with her. He was discharged from the hospital easily, his father would have to pay the fee so Harry wouldn't have to worry about it at all, the man had also been made to transfer an amount of money to Harry's Gringotts vault, it wasn't much but Harry was glad for it.

Harry let Dumbledore do all the talking and merely followed the man, nodding his head and keeping his sentences short when he was required to participate in any conversation. There was a cab waiting for them outside and Harry followed Dumbledore in, staring blankly outside the window, not really seeing anything that passed by as they drove down the streets.

The spike in his chest was a constant presence, the one thing that the healers couldn't seem to fix, Harry wondered if they could even see it as clearly as he could in his mind, if it was obvious or not. He felt like he was screaming but no one could hear him, that he was drowning in some dark sea, with no breath to inhale as his lungs somehow kept working despite this. He felt ashamed, that he was hurt so much by his own father, that someone so important to him was lost to him forever now, and despite it all Harry wished he could go back to how things were before he had told his father about Tom, but he knew that if he ever did return to his father he would likely suffer again, that staying with the man would not make him love Harry.

The man had gone too far and now things would never be the same.

He wasn't looking forward to the orphanage, despite Tom's presence their that lifted his spirits somewhat, it would mean getting used to living with so many others, even if only for a short time, likely having a schedule to live his day by. He didn't know if he could handle it, everything about his life was changing now.

The cab stopped with a jerk, Harry lurching forwards in his seat, Dumbledore seemingly nonplussed, that smile still on his face, like all was well in the world. Stepping out of the cab he looked up to see a ruddy building, looking as cold as the stones it stood upon, a dingy sign with missing letters telling him that this was Wool's Orphanage. This is where Tom lives. Looking to the side he saw a man leaning against the brick wall that met the cold iron gates, his trunk resting next to the man who was obviously a wizard.

Dumbledore led the way through the gates, a signal from him had the man following behind with Harry's trunk, and for the first time Harry was glad he was not a hoarder and only had so much that it could fill the trunk without needing any extra bags or trunks to carry it all.

The door that lead inside was old, chipped and had peeling splinters in some areas. _Friendly._ He thought sarcastically, _Perfect place for children._ Harry sighed heavily, a great gust of wind leaving his lungs. If Harry had to describe the orphanage with one word it would be 'harsh', harsh stones, doors, windows and grounds.

Glancing up at one of the higher levels of the building he could barely make out what looked to be a bunch of children around the age of seven looking out of one of the heavily stained windows at him, likely gossiping about him already.

He wondered if Tom knew he was there, had anyone told him what had happened?

Following Dumbledore inside he was glad to see that it was at least kept clean, only a bit of dust clinging to the higher parts of the walls. They were met by a skinny, harassed-looking woman named Mrs Cole, she must have been told about Harry already as she seemed to have been expecting them. Harry followed Dumbledore into her office, the man with his trunk waiting dutifully in the main entrance.

Harry sat quietly as the two talked, he figured they were finalizing a few things for allowing Harry to stay at the building. He wondered where he would find Tom, he was nervous about it, after what had happened he felt almost afraid to face the other boy, he wasn't sure he was ready to find out what Tom thought of the situation. The talk did not last long, Dumbledore handing over a few papers that Harry guessed his father must have been made to sign and sharing a few words before they were heading out into the main hall again, Dumbledore left briskly, instructing the man carting Harry's trunk around to help Harry get it to his room before he left.

"So, Harry Potter is it?" Mrs Cole said and Harry supposed that would be his only greeting.

He turned to her, "Yes ma'am."

"You're from that same school as Tom right?" She said, her eyes squinted and face scrunched slightly as she looked him over.

"That's right ma'am. Tom and I are... friends." he wouldn't say what they really were, not after last time, these people were muggles and he had learnt all too well that that was too dangerous, they would have to hide that fact about them.

"I see, we don't have many rooms but I am sure we can fit you in somewhere." she stated, heading towards the staircase, Harry heard the wizard pulling his trunk after them, he also heard Mrs Cole mutter quietly when she obviously thought he wasn't listening, "Too many unwanted children with the war going on..."

Harry nearly jumped from fright when a dark figure descended the stairs, eyes darting to the side he saw the old matron had had a similar reaction. Looking up he saw that the figure was, _of course_ , no other than Tom Riddle. _Sneaky bastard trying to kill me before I even get settled..._

"Oh!" Mrs Cole exclaimed shakily, a hand clutched to her chest, "Tom! I didn't see you there! Always so quiet..."

Tom put on a very fake smile, "My apologies ma'am, I merely wished to see my _friend_ and make sure he was alright, current circumstances and all." The tall boy said 'friend' as if he was challenging the matron.

"Ah, of course." Mrs Cole seemed to have finally got her wits back, "I was just getting him settled, need to find a room for him, I'm sure you two will have plenty of time to catch up then."

"He can stay with me." It was said so fast Harry wondered if Tom had meant to let it slip, "I don't have a roommate after all."

Mrs Cole looked at Tom like she knew all too well the reason for that, after a moment of giving Tom a similar, judging look that she had given to Harry moments before she replied, "Very well then." she didn't sound entirely confident but turned to Harry and the man still holding his trunk behind him, "Well I suppose that settles it, you can stay with Tom in room 27, alright?" she didn't give Harry a chance to actually reply, not that he would say no to staying with Tom, "Now I have to go check on some things, I'm sure you can get settled just fine yourself, just follow Tom." and with that she rushed off, carrying the look of a woman that had no time at all.

Tom gave his so very fake smile to Harry, likely keeping up the facade due to the man waiting behind him with his trunk, he seemed to wait a moment but Harry didn't return the smile, the very thought of doing so slipping over his wind like water over hands, he wasn't even sure those muscles would work if he tried, "This way then." Tom said with similarly fake cheer and he turned briskly back up the stairs and led the way through the halls, wooden and chipped, scratched and bland. Old lights hung from the high ceiling, not too bright and reminding Harry for a second of the light in the cellar, the doors all looked the same apart from the small iron plaques nailed to each that all held different numbers.

Tom's door was scratched up quite a bit, the markings placed low on the wood as if a child had gotten bored at some point and done it themselves, the door creaked when it swung open and Tom moved inside, sitting down on his bed, Harry could see Tom's own Hogwarts trunk sitting at the foot of it in the small space between the bed and the cupboard.

While the wizard pulled Harry's trunk in and set it up at the end of what would be his bed he took a moment to take in the surroundings. The other bed sat on the opposite side of the small room, it was nothing but a metal frame and bare mattress, he supposed he would be given sheets, blankets and a pillow by one of the matrons. There was a desk with a single chair sitting in front of a window that was placed between the beds, Harry saw bunches of scrunched up paper lined up along the dirty glass and wondered what they contained. Looking behind him to the opposite side of the room to the cupboard he saw there was nothing more than a laundry bin sitting there.

He turned back around and noticed Tom was staring at him intently, like a curious child.

The wizard left with a simple nod and 'Mister Potter', the door closing behind him and then it was just the two of them.

Harry didn't know what to do, so he merely stood on the spot, a hand raising to squeeze his upper arm as he turned his eyes away from Tom's. Tom extended a reaching arm out to him, beckoning him over, "Come here precious." it wasn't a command, simply a softly said request, like talking too loudly might bring the roof down upon them. Harry wondered if it might. He gave in though and wandered over to Tom, sitting on the older boy's bed and leaning against him, eyes trained on the bare mattress in front of him as a warm arm wrapped itself around his ribs and soft lips made contact with his head.

They sat in silence for a while, Harry was glad that Tom wasn't questioning him right away and leaned further into the other boy, turning his head to bury it in Tom's shirt as the taller boy wrapped his other arm around him, holding him close. Harry didn't know how long they sat like that but eventually Tom moved his arms and pulled Harry up from his chest, Harry had not cried yet his eyes were tired and burning despite that.

Tom put a hand under Harry's chin, forcing him to meet the other boy's eyes, "I want to know everything he did to you." Tom stated, Harry could guess from the tone that there would be no talking him out of it, could he really talk about it though? Vocalize what had happened, to give it recognition and make it that much more real?

Pulling his head away from Tom's gentle grip he murmured, "I don't want to." His voice cracking as tears threatened him.

Tom's hand moved to stroke his hair, a kiss was placed on his forehead, "I know, but you can try." his voice was soft and Harry could tell Tom was trying his best to be patient with him.

Harry looked back up, meeting Tom's eyes and wishing he could name all the things he saw swirling in their dark depths. Sniffing he relaxed against Tom again, laying in the older boy's lap and staring at the far wall. He was silent for a time, so long that he saw Tom make a move to talk again from the corner of his eye, but Harry cut him off, he opened his mouth and the words came out, he found himself unable to stop once he had started.

Harry cried, having to stop talking every now and then to wipe his tears away and get his breath back from the sobs that were stealing all the air from him, Tom gripped the grey sheets of his bed so tight Harry thought they might rip, he could see how much Tom was trying to stop himself from letting his anger out, how much the older boy wanted to scream and curse with each new assault Harry spoke of. 

Harry told him everything, every heart-wrenching detail, starting at his bath and finishing at the hospital. His heart hurt but some part of him lit up with the knowledge that he had Tom, that he older boy wanted to listen to him and help him through this.

And Harry felt some of the pain go away.

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	27. New Life, New Problems

After their talk Tom let Harry stay in what was now their room as he got the sheets, pillow and blanket for Harry's bed and helped him set it up, Harry not speaking a word now that he had told Tom everything, his voice lost somewhere down his throat in a place he could not reach it.

Once the bland, grey covers were all in place Tom tucked Harry into the bed before moving over to his own and slipping under the thin blanket. Tom didn't say a word after that, seemingly waiting for something as his dark eyes stared up at the roof, Harry knew what that thing was when a matron came by to check that they were in bed, obviously doing a headcount before the lights went off for the night.

As soon as the woman was gone Tom looked over to Harry and lifted his blanket a little, Harry needed no more prompting and swiftly rushed over to the other boys bed, not caring that his own blanket had been sent flying to the end of his own bed in his haste. He slipped under the cover next to the older boy and snuggled against him, Tom's arms wrapping around him easily and holding him close, like a snake holding its prey, but Harry liked that tight grip, he felt he needed it, he felt that it kept him _there_.

It wasn't until Harry was already drifting off to sleep that he realized they had missed dinner in favour of talking.

The next morning Tom woke Harry from his peaceful slumber, the early light barely filtering in through the stains on the window, Harry grumbled and attempted to roll over and hide his face in the lumpy mattress but Tom merely prodded him until he relented and got up.

Yawning he noticed he was in the same clothes as he had been at the hospital and was just wondering if the orphanage had some sort of dress code when a bunch of grey fabric smacked into his face, turning he saw Tom grinning at him from the wardrobe, Harry poked his tongue out at the other boy before he picked up the scraps and started dressing into them, thankful that the belt managed to keep the plain shorts from slipping down his thin waist.

Looking over to Tom he almost couldn't hold in his laughter, he knew it was probably mean but the sight of the tall, skinny boy in the unfitting orphanage clothes was almost comical somehow, his bony knees showing under the wide legs of his shorts and the off-white socks pulled their full length to halfway up his shins.

Tom saw his grin and glared at him, "You look just as ridiculous you know."

"Yeah, but at least my knee's aren't showing." Harry retorted with a grin, and it was true, he was so short that the clothes covered just past his knees.

Tom sighed but didn't push the issue further, merely leading Harry downstairs. The halls were still dark as light barely passed through the place and Harry wondered if they were the first people up at that time.

"Why'd we wake up so early?" Harry asked.

"Do you want to risk someone barging into m- our room and seeing us in the same bed?" was Tom's only reply, Harry noticed that he had almost said 'my room' but he couldn't blame him, it was still a new change.

"I see your point." Harry agreed as they made it down the stairs, "Where are we going?" he wondered if they would be getting some food, having missed both lunch and dinner his stomach was gnawing at him in angry revenge.

"Breakfast won't be served until later," Tom replied and Harry's heart sank, _schedule's. Just like I thought_. "We can go outside for a bit though, it shouldn't be too hot out yet."

Harry let Tom lead him outside and was relieved for the brightness as opposed to the darkness of inside, he followed the tall boy around the side of the building, noticing that most of the exterior was rather bland. Looking around he saw concrete in some places that held the fading chalk markings of children's games and bricks in other places with weeds poking their heads through the cracks between them. As Tom led him to the back of the building the hard, concrete and stone ground turned into unkempt grass, yellowing under the summer sun, he could see a sandpit with swings to their left but Tom lead him past them to a small swath of bushes, as equally uncared for as the grass under their feet seemed to be, Harry wondered how the shrubbery had managed to grow in such a dismal at all.

Tom lead him through some of the branches and into a tiny clearing between the small tree's and overgrown bushes, if Harry ignored the glimpses of stone and dieing grass through the leaves he could almost imagine it was a forest. He couldn't help but feel reminded of the hidden places in the garden he used to tend to, the fact that he would never see those flowers again causing his mood to dampen.

He sat down on a fallen trunk, long dead and looking as if it had been brought down long ago with no intent for it ever to be moved from the yard, and looked to Tom, the older boy wasn't looking at him though, instead he was facing one of the small trees, it's trunk no wider than a human. Harry wondered what the boy was doing but when he looked up at Tom's face all he could see was a dark expression, seemingly fueled by anger and hatred, making Harry worried for a moment before he reminded himself that Tom wouldn't hurt him.

He wasn't surprised when Tom started tearing into the bark of the tree angrily, ripping bits off with his nails. Harry figured he must be getting rid of the anger he had felt the other night after hearing Harry's recount of what had happened to land him in the orphanage.

Harry let his mind wander as he sat on the dead tree trunk, wondering when breakfast would be served and subsequently lunch and dinner as well, he also wondered if there was anything else that he would only be able to do at a certain time of day, he hoped showing wouldn't be timed, it would certainly mean less time to enjoy the warm water with so many other children who would want to use them too. Tom's angry yells and grunts as he beat up the defenseless tree were pushed to the back of his mind as if the suddenly scary teen was not raging so close to him.

So lost was he in thoughts about his new life that he jumped when Tom sat down on the trunk next to him, looking over at the teens victim he took in the scratched up trunk and bits of fresh bark laying on the ground, taking in the amount of damage and feeling glad that Tom's nails were not sharp claws.

Tom sighed as he rested his hands behind him on the trunk, "Sorry you had to see that Precious."

Harry hummed, still looking at the scraps of bark, "It's alright, I figured you'd be angry, I'm just glad you took it out on the tree rather than a person."

An arm snaked around him and Harry turned to look at Tom as the boy lay his head against Harry's shoulder, Tom's eyes were closed and there didn't seem to be a trace left of the previous dark expression that had taken over the handsome face. Harry smiled before he closed his own eyes and moved his lips over the other boys, pressing their soft flesh together before pulling away and opening his eyes again. Tom was watching him now, eyes wide open in a childlike manner that made Harry want to grin, for someone so intelligent and mature he so often reminded Harry of a small child.

Tom lifted his head and moved the arm around Harry so that he cupped the back of the messy head and pushed their lips together again, this time the flesh parted and tongues met gently, rubbing and tasting. Harry liked kissing Tom like this, they only ever did it alone and it was never a fight for dominance, just two people sharing themselves with each other. After a minute they broke their kiss and grinned at each other.

Tom then stood, offering his hand to help Harry up, "Breakfast should be underway soon."

Harry followed Tom back around the side of the large building and inside, this time they passed the stairs and ventured further into the first floor, through a hallway and into a large room that had several long tables with many chairs seated in front of them, nothing at all like the great hall in Hogwarts, the place looked like it suffered a severe lack of cheer.

Tom lead him to the end of one of the tables, Harry sitting right at the end when Tom gestured to it and Tom taking the seat next to him, it was still rather early so they were the first there and merely sat quietly as they waited. Harry knew that their relationship had to be kept secret and felt that would probably be one of his hardest struggles that summer along with adjusting to living at the orphanage. That thought in mind though Harry supposed subtle things probably wouldn't be that bad so he bumped his hand against Tom's under the table, the older boy giving him a tiny smile before latching onto it.

They were only waiting for a few minutes before the first children started filtering into the dining hall, Harry noticed that the smaller children seemed to wake first, followed by the teens that looked about ready to leave the orphanage to find their way in the world, the last to enter being those starting or mid-way through their teen years. The two had to unclasp their hands when children started passing them to find their own seats.

Harry noticing that they seemed to have formed their own groups like the kids at school did with their friends, he also noticed that most gave Tom a wide birth while also trying to get a look at Harry, their seemingly conflicted emotions on the matter showing in their back-and-forth behavior as they passed the two. Harry sent Tom a questioning look, eyebrow raised but Tom waved him off without a word and he guessed that it wasn't a matter to explain right then.

Harry noticed a counter on the far wall that seemed to peer into a kitchen, a separate room which had a door leaning to the dining hall, that had women working behind it, stirring pots and rushing about with large amounts of raw foods. Eventually the ladies started placing plates and bowls onto the counter and the children moved to line up and take them back to their seats, Harry hurriedly followed Tom as he swiftly made his way over, gliding past smaller children as if they weren't there while Harry barely dodged around them and headed to the counter before the line could form in front of them.

When they reached the counter, before most other children who were forced to form a queue behind them, there was another group of teens already there, there were about four of them in all, three boys and one girl, the girl and one of the smaller males paled when they saw Tom, the largest of the boys, who wasn't all that large really but seemed gifted with a certain amount of muscle, glared at Tom before harshly picking up one of the plates so fast that Harry almost thought it would slip from his hand and fly across the room like a discus. One of the other boys followed suit, giving Tom a dirty, distrustful look as he took his own meal, a little more gently, and followed the larger boy. The other teens backed off slightly and let Tom and Harry take their plates before they grabbed their own and rushed off after the two boys.

Harry wondered what the issue with those kids was, _they_ didn't seem to like Tom _at all_ , though it seemed none of the other orphans were very fond of him either, especially not if the empty rows of chairs next to where Tom was sitting was any indication compared to the rest of the hall having tables loaded with kids. Harry then wondered if Tom had made Harry sit at the end of the table so that other children would not sit beside him.

But Harry figured that the explanations for all that could be left until later, for now he had his first meal since breakfast the day before and was ready to dig into it, uncaring that it didn't look as good as the food he made for himself in the past.

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	28. Billy Bunny Boy

After breakfast Tom lead Harry outside again, a group of eager children milling about their feet so close together that they were unable to get around them this time and merely went along like a human flood out of the doors, the excited children quickly rushing off to where Harry had seen chalk markings. Tom stuck close to the wall of the building, staying in the shadow that lay there which Harry was thankful for, the sun already growing in power above them.

Tom led him behind the building and they stopped at the wall there, just past the corner, Tom sitting down on the hard ground, eyes trained on the ground.

Harry sat down next to him and decided now would be as good a time as any to ask, "So what was up with those children back there? You don't seem very popular here, particularly not with _them_."

Tom kept his eyes on the sandy patch of earth in front of him, "They don't like what I am."

"They know you're a wizard?" Harry was surprised, muggles are meant to know unless they are the child's parents!

"No. But my magic showed when I was younger and they didn't like it, they didn't like that I could do strange things that shouldn't happen, so they hated me, labeled me a freak and kept their distance."

"I see." It certainly explained why Tom was so withdrawn, "What about those four kids in particular? They really don't seem to like you."

"Billy is a bully." there was resentment in his voice, "And an idiot." Tom mumbled under his breath, barely audible enough for Harry to catch, "Rabbit boy..."

"Billy... is that the big guy?" Tom nodded, his eyes hard, "That girl and the smallest guy seem afraid of you though, did you do something to them? By accident?"

Tom's eyes shifted to look at Harry, narrowed and searching, "When we were younger we went to a beach, I wanted to check out a cave and got them to come with me, I did magic and they got scared. They are cowards."

"I see... and did you ever... do anything to Billy and that other kid?"

Tom was silent, staring at the dirt again, and Harry wondered if he was going to talk at all. Just when Tom moved as if to speak they were interrupted by heavy footfalls from around the corner, looking up Harry saw the face of the large boy, Billy he remembered, round the corner, followed by the other three orphans. Billy looked down to see the two boys sitting against the wall, an unfriendly grin taking up his features as he looked between them.

"So," the boy said, voice loud, "You're Tom's new _friend_ huh?"

Harry didn't like how the boy mocked the word, he nodded anyway, not bothering to get up, glancing to his other side he saw Tom was now glaring at the dirt, his eyes shifting up to look at Billy sometimes before shifting back, as if he wasn't sure if he should ignore the boy or not, likely too interested in what Billy was saying to Harry to truly ignore them.

Billy's attention was on Harry, eyes squinted and grin in place, "So how well do you actually _know_ Tom, huh?" he glanced to his friends momentarily before continuing, "You know he's a total _freak_ right?" Harry wasn't given a chance to retort as the larger boy continued, "You know, I thought he had been sent off to some mental school or something. You aren't mental are you kid?" the tone was accusing, as if Billy already thought Harry was mad.

"No. And our school isn't for mental people, if you had been good enough to get in you might know that, but here you are wallowing like a pig instead. Rather fitting though." Harry had meant for his comment to indicate a lack of intelligence but he wasn't sure Tom took it that way, sure that the small grin on the angered teens face was a sign he had taken it as a jibe at the larger boys lack of magic.

"Think you're funny kid? What's your name anyway?"

"Why does my name matter to you? I don't think I will tell you." Harry retorted, craning his neck to look at the boy towering above his position on the ground.

Billy snorted, "Whatever, we can just ask one of the matrons. So how did you end up here anyways? Parents die? Sent of to war?" the boys face got meaner, grin attempting to reach his ear, "Or did your parents not _love_ you enough to keep a _freak_ around?"

Harry was diving at the larger boy before he could even register that his legs had moved, screeching in anger as he clawed at Billy, _How dare he! How dare he say that!_ the chant repeated in his mind, blocking out all other thoughts other than to throttle the one who dared suggest his father had not loved him for being what he was, the truth of the words hurting too much. The large boy reacted by trying to pry Harry off of him, failing to do so as Harry clung tight and kicked and punched any part of the boy that he could reach. Harry only came back to his senses when he was roughly shoved against the wall, his head hitting the bricks harshly and causing him to see stars, the other boys hands on his chest and stomach winding him with a sharp gasp.

Tom had been watching wide-eyed from his place on the ground but once Harry had been slammed into the wall the small boys gasp seemed to snap him out of his trance and he launched himself at Billy with a animalistic cry, throwing punches and scrabbling at the boy in a similar manner as to how he had treated the tree earlier that morning. Harry was surprised to see the usually level-headed boy fight like a muggle, scratching desperately at the boy only slightly shorter than himself but much bigger in muscle mass in an attempt to help Harry.

Harry slid down the wall as Tom's attacks forced Billy to back off a few steps, the dark haired boy following, not relenting in his attacks as a crazed look took over his face, eyes sparkling with darkness. Harry watched as the second boy jumped into the fight, Tom battling against both at once now as the trio fell to the ground, still punching and kicking as dust filled the air from the dry grass.

The terrified girl and boy from earlier standing back and looking on with horror as if they thought an explosion was imminent, which probably wasn't the _wrong_ thing to think as it was Tom who was fighting with the two boys. Other orphans were turning their attention to the commotion, some pointing at the fighting group with excitement and others looking afraid.

Harry wondered if a fight like this was a regular occurrence, it certainly _seemed_ normal to the boys writhing on the ground.

Looking at the boys Harry noted that Tom was on his back, slashing and clawing at Billy's face as he kicked both boys, the larger boy pummeling his chest with fists as the smaller one tried to hold Tom down, the snarl on Tom's lips reminding Harry of some large, feral cat.

Harry quickly picked himself off the group and flew at the boys holding Tom down, shoving his shoulder into the side of the closest one and sending both of the attackers skidding across the grass as Harry leaned over Tom on all fours, looking down briefly to make sure that his love was not hurt, the adrenaline in Tom's eyes reassuring him for the moment.

The two larger orphans were picking themselves off the grass but before they could throw themselves into a fight again a woman was yelling, Harry turned his gaze to see one of the matrons rushing towards them, one hand holding her skirt up and the other waving about in the air.

"Stop! Stop this madness this instant!" She screeched in distress as she approached them, Tom sat up as she did, his back to the woman so that he had to twist his neck around to look at her, Harry still on his hands and knees over the older boys lap. She took a moment to look between them and the other two boys before she continued, her voice less panicky and more of a demanding anger, "What is the meaning of this? Who started this fight?" As she looked around to the watching orphans they all shook their heads, having not seen the start of the fight from their side of the building, only noticing after Tom had sent Billy backing off into the playground.

Just when Harry thought that the matron would have to make up her own mind on the matter the girl from Billy's group raised her arm, pointing at Harry she stuttered, "H- he started it ma'am, the new kid attacked Billy!" his mouth dropped open, Billy had started the fight by insulting him!

"Well, Mr Potter is new here but that is no excuse for this kind of behavior." The matron looked at him sternly, "I'll let you off this time but another incident like this and you'll be punished." she then turned and hurried back inside, shooing off the children still milling around.

Harry sighed.

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	29. It's a Hard Knock Life

After the eventful incident outside Tom and Harry had retreated to their room, both boys fuming over the fact that only Harry had gotten in trouble when it had been Billy who started it by saying such a mean thing to Harry.

"That kid, Billy, is a complete arse!" Harry shouted angrily, pacing the room.

Tom hummed his agreement, "Amy is such a snitch, ratting you out, _she's_ the one who should be punished." there was a dark look in Tom's eyes as he said the last part but Harry chose to ignore it, sure that Tom was simply angry for his sake.

Once Harry calmed down enough to not want to kick something, _really_ hard he might add, he turned to Tom who was sitting on his own bed, his hands wringing the sheets being the only clear sign that he was still pissed off as well.

"Are you hurt?" Harry asked, approaching the taller boy, in response Tom simply shrugged off his shirt, revealing bruises that were already forming on his chest and stomach, Harry guessed he probably had bruises elsewhere too, on his legs maybe, "Strip." Harry ordered, Tom raised an eyebrow at him, "I want to see everything they did to you."

Tom sighed but started throwing his clothes about, "All right, but you have to strip so I can see yours too."

Harry complied and soon both boys were on Tom's bed looking over each other, Harry learning of a rather nasty bruise on his back when Tom pressed exploratory fingers into it. As he had thought Tom's legs held bruises too, all of the bruises on him seemed small though and unlikely to turn too bad before they healed, Harry hated to admit it but he also found himself enjoying watching Tom flinch minutely as he pressed each bruise gently. He felt better with the knowledge that Tom seemed to enjoy returning the favour though, grinning devilishly at Harry as he poked different marks, the tingle of pain not such a bad thing.

Within minutes their lips were locked, naked bodies rubbing together as hands roamed. Harry was barely aware of when it had started but had no complaints, the earlier fight being pushed to the back of his mind as he reveled in the feel of warm skin brushing together.

Harry lay on top of the older boy and inched down his body, sucking on his neck and licking down his chest, he stopped at a nipple to suck on it, enjoying the gasp Tom let out before moving on down to his conclave stomach, the lack of meat and muscle on the boy a testament to his lack-luster life at the orphanage. Harry dipped his tongue experimentally into Tom navel, lapping at it as the boy moaned, he could feel the half-hard cock nudging into his chest and enjoyed prolonging Tom's wait for Harry to reach it, which was affecting Tom exactly how Harry wanted it to if the sounds Tom was making were any indication.

Finally Harry moved down until he rested between Tom's legs, grabbing the still-soft cock he pumped it slowly with his hand, purposefully taking his time with it and enjoying watching it harden fully. From between the boy's legs he could see Tom's face perfectly and saw him trying to hold back his moans as Harry slowly stroked him in full hardness.

Once Tom was fully hard Harry learnt forward and slowly licked him from base to head, running his tongue along the thick vein on the underside of Tom's cock, said boy barely managing to swallow his moan, turning it into a needy sound at the back of his throat in the attempt to do so. Harry grinned and continued to slowly lick him, loving the slow torture he was putting the other boy through and the heady scent and taste he was receiving in turn.

Harry turned his attention to the balls hanging below the now-hard instrument, licking and sucking at them, enjoying how soft they were and the texture of the wrinkled skin against his tongue, Tom spread his legs wider for Harry to have easier access while trying and failing once again to be silent.

Harry drew back with a grin, "You know," he started, loving the look of the other boy, his hair messed up like a dark halo against his pillow and a flush taking up his face, "if you aren't more quiet someone might hear us." The thought honestly scared Harry more than it turned him on but he couldn't help teasing Tom.

Tom groaned lightly but Harry was sure it wasn't from any displeasure, "No one is inside at this time of day..." he said, draping an arm over his eyes as he rested his head back, "idiots won't come in until they are all have sunburns, it's too boring in here for them."

Harry made a noncommittal 'Mk' noise before he lowered his head to Tom's cock again, kissing the tip gently, the kiss evolving into sucking on the head until Harry was drawing half of the length into his mouth at once, tongue sliding over the tip and around the shaft, Tom moving his arm to cover his mouth as he moaned and rolled his hips, bucking into Harry's mouth lightly. Harry adjusted his arm that lay beside Tom, propping him up so that he could try to take more of the other boy into his mouth, his other hand moving from the base of the cock down to the balls to lightly caress them.

The position over Tom on the bed wasn't very comfortable and Harry found his arm aching soon, the small space of the bed meaning his legs were bent above him in the air to avoid having them hanging off the edge of the bed precariously, and Tom kept shifting around.

Harry sighed as he pulled off of Tom's cock, he tugged on the other boy's leg as he moved off the bed, "This isn't good, move over here." Tom eagerly followed as Harry directed, sitting on the edge of the mattress as Harry knelt before him, taking the hard cock in his hand again and lapping at it, his tongue flicking over the head and looking up at Tom while he did, the boy's face was flushed deeply and Harry loved being able to see the closed-off boy in such a state, knowing that he was the cause was an added bonus.

He resisted the urge to smile as he took the cock into his mouth again, trying to get it as far in as possible but that annoying gag reflex of his kept stopping him from taking the full length. He tried to fight his bodies instincts on the matter, constantly trying to shove Tom's cock into himself only for his head to bounce back involuntarily, as if he had some rubber band around his head that was attached to the other wall, Tom gasping and moaning quietly every time the tip of his cock reached that point in Harry's throat that he had to back away. Harry was quickly becoming annoyed with his body, it wasn't as if he would literally choke on the cock as it was attached to Tom and thus easy to remove, yet his body persisted in telling him that it was a bad idea. _Stupid body, stop trying to save my life, it isn't welcome at the moment._

Smiling Harry came up with an idea, sucking Tom into his mouth as far as he could go without his throat protesting he grabbed Tom's hand and lifted it to the back of his head, putting pressure there until Tom got the message and kept it there, he looked up at Tom, he could feel spit leaking out of his mouth around the cock and loved the look in Tom's eyes as he watched the scene intently, when Tom met his eyes he put more pressure on the hand on the back of his head and Tom seemed to get the full picture.

Tom placed his other hand on Harry's head and with one last look into the smaller boy's eyes Harry was slammed forward, cock forced roughly down his throat, his gag reflex attempting to pull off but Tom's hands keeping Harry there as he moaned loudly.

Both boys froze, knowing that that last moan was far to loud, they listened for any approaching footsteps but thankfully none came.

Harry was still battling with himself, his mind trying to tell his body that this was a good thing and his body freaking out as it tried to pull away, attempting to tell Harry that he would die even when his brain knew better. It hurt and was uncomfortable to have the cock so far down but Harry loved it at the same time, the reaction from Tom was enough to make it all okay, even as his eyes watered terribly.

Tom wiped away the tears that leaked from Harry's eyes, keeping one hand on Harry's head as he raised the tear-stained finger to his mouth, as he sucked on the digit he started rolling his hips into Harry's face, cock never leaving the small boys throat as it inched backwards and forwards, Harry struggling to breath through his nose as he practically hugged the older boys hips, his conflicting feelings over the experience making his heart rate pick up, he was sure Tom could feel the pulses the organ in Harry's chest was creating.

The pace got faster and a bit rougher as Tom seemed to near his orgasm, putting his other hand back on Harry's head again and pushing and pulling him to meet the thrusts, Harry tried to stay limp for him, enjoying the breathless sounds Tom was emitting above him, the angle making it so he could not look up into the other boys face and instead stared blankly at his lightly convulsing stomach as he concentrated on moving his tongue along the shaft while keeping his mouth open and throat loose.

With one last thrust down Harry's throat Tom came with a grunt, his hips shaking spasmodically as Harry felt the warm liquid squirt down his throat, the older boy pulling back as his orgasm calmed, the last traces of come leaking out onto Harry's tongue. Harry fell away coughed once he was cock-free but did his best to keep the come in his mouth, wanting to swallow every bit he received, managing to do so between coughs as he knelt on all fours over the wooden floorboards, coughing freely once he did so and getting his breath back before he lifted off his hands and turned back to Tom.

Tom was still sitting on the edge on the bed, his cock now flaccid in his lap and a serene look on his handsome face as he stared at Harry. Harry grinned at him and hurried over when the older boy reached out an arm slightly to beckon Harry to him. The two boys rested back on Tom's bed, cuddling their naked bodies together.

"Was it alright?" Tom asked, his eyes closed as he lay his head against Harry's, "I didn't hurt you did I?"

"Nah, it was alright." Harry replied lazily, shifting to get more comfortable. "We should probably get dressed soon though." He added a bit sadly, he didn't like having his private time with Tom disturbed due to the muggles they had to live with.

Tom made an agreeing sound, they rested for a minute more before Tom got up first, laying a kiss on Harry's head before he searched out which clothes were his from where the two had dumped them all over the floor, throwing Harry his clothes as he went through them.

Once the two boys were dressed again they lay together again, grinning at each other. Just as Harry was drifting off hot breath assaulted his ear and Tom whispered, "I'm glad you're here."

Harry merely smiled in response and hugged Tom harder, knowing the other boy meant well with the comment, and, in a way, Harry was glad he was there too, for it meant he was with Tom.

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	30. Horrible Kids

After their, thankfully undisturbed, cuddle session it was time for lunch. Harry followed Tom down into the same hall they had eaten breakfast at and to the same seats, this time the other orphans didn't seem quite as interested in Harry as they had been that morning, still sending him furtive glances every now and then and obviously talking about him with their friends but being not quite as up-front about it as before, not wanting to get too close after the fight they had witnessed.

When the four orphans from before entered they glared at both of the boys, or at least the two that had fought Tom and Harry did, the others merely glancing at them quickly while scurrying after the larger boys, their heads down and eyes lowered to the floor as if they were afraid Tom might literally glare them to death like a basilisk.

"So why do Billy and that other kid hate you?" Harry whispered to Tom, leaning towards him so that he wouldn't be overheard by others, Tom had only told him why the girl and the smallest boy feared him.

"There was... an _incident_... with a rabbit Billy had when we were children." Tom replied in low murmur.

Harry could guess that whatever had happened must have been bad but he wanted a better explanation. "What about the rabbit?" He pried nervously.

"It died."

"How?"

"Billy was mean to me, I wanted revenge on him and my magic acted out to exact it."

"So... you killed the rabbit?"

"In a sense. I didn't _know_ it would die. I was a kid and I was angry."

"I see." Harry didn't like the knowledge that Tom had been responsible for the death of an innocent animal but he figured he couldn't hold it against him, as the older boy had said, he had been a child at the time and didn't know it would happen, it was just a reckless accident. Nothing more.

"What about that other kid? Why does he hate you?"

"You mean Eric Whalley? Mostly because he is Billy's best friend, Eric also tried to bully me when I was smaller." Harry wondered if Tom only added the 'tried' to save his pride a little, admittedly Harry was surprised to learn that Tom had been bullied but it made sense with what he had said before about the others fearing the 'strange' things he could do, it also explained why the fight earlier that day had seemed so normal to them.

"I don't suppose you just sat back and let them push you around then?" Harry asked, recalling the feral expression Tom wore during the fight.

"No. I didn't know it was magic either until Dumbledore came and told me before I went to Hogwarts, but that didn't mean I didn't use it to my advantage. I am not weak enough to just roll over and let them do what they want." The conviction in the older boys voice made Harry sure of that fact, now he fully understood why the other orphans didn't come near him, he had turned the fear that had caused them to hate him into a defense against their hate. He supposed that was fair, especially since Tom didn't even know what it was at the time, let alone be able to control it. Harry silently admitted that he probably would have done the same, if people like them had hated him for his magic, a thing he could not control, he probably would have learnt to defend himself as well, even if that meant using the strange force against them.

Soon the food was served and they ate in silence, no other orphans daring to sit near the seats they had claimed. As he ate Harry vaguely wondered what would happen to someone if they tried to repress their magic, to hide it so that people like Billy didn't hurt them, surely such a powerful thing as magic could not be hidden? Harry certainly preferred the thought of turning his magic into a defense rather than trying hiding it.

After lunch the orphans stayed inside, the sun outside far too hot now and the matron locking the door so that the smaller children did not go out and hurt themselves. Harry noticed that many of the matrons' dresses were dirty, spots of milk and goop running down their chests, he guessed that they must spend most of their day tending to the smallest of the children in their care, the ones that couldn't do things for themselves.

Harry expressed wanting to see the baby orphans, having always liked babies, but Tom shot the idea down, going on about how horrible a place that part of the orphanage was, and also that they would likely get in trouble for being there, the matrons thinking they might hurt the small ones or get in the ladies way as they tended to them. Harry wondered if there was more to Tom's aversion of the nursery but didn't pry, he could at least agree on the getting in the way part anyway, he was sure the matrons had to deal with enough without them under their feet.

The two returned to their room and worked on some of the homework they had yet to finish, Tom only had two more to do but Harry had more as he had spent most of his holiday either working around his house or being in the hospital. The thought of his old house and his reason for being in the hospital making that familiar pain in his chest remind him of its presence.

Harry wondered what his father was doing at that moment, if he was already done going to court, and what his punishments were if he got any. Mostly Harry wondered if the man missed him, if he regretted what he did.

He was pulled out of these thoughts when he was dragged into Tom's lap, the other boys arms embracing him, his head resting on Harry's shoulder until Harry turned to him and gave him a kiss, pushing out all of his emotions with it, focusing instead on Tom and the love he felt for the boy and the love the boy seemed to return to him.

Hours later Harry exited the room, in need of finding the toilet, he descended the stairs and looked for the door Tom had described to him, it being in the same hallway leading to the dining hall. The offices were to the right, four of them in all, and the bathroom would be the fifth door.

Harry had passed the third door when someone grabbed his shoulder and slammed him into the wall on the left, it was of course Billy Stubbs, Harry wondered if this boy had a thing for shoving people into walls.

"Shove off bunny-boy!" Harry growled.

Billy's eyes flashed dangerously before he narrowed them at Harry again, closing in on him, "Think you're better than everyone else do you? Just like Riddle?"

"Better than you." Harry retorted, glaring at the larger boy.

"I didn't think Tom had the ability to make friends," Billy went on as if they were in a normal conversation, "Or do freaks attract other freaks? You certainly seem freakish, especially since you went crazy outside."

"Maybe people wouldn't hate you so much if you learnt to keep your stupid mouth shut!" Harry growled, getting annoyed with the other, remembering the things he had said that morning.

"Right." Billy leant closer to Harry, an unfriendly grin on his face, "But if you weren't such a freak people wouldn't need to put you in your place. Are you just like Tom then? Do you do freakish things? Do you kill animals?"

"No!" Harry would never kill an animal, or anything else. He tried to pry the large hands off of him but was unable, his fingers too small.

"Sure, I bet you and Tom are just the same, just as weird and twisted." Billy pulled on Harry's shoulders before slamming him against the wall again, the small force not really hurting Harry but enough to put him off balance, the hands digging into him holding him up as his legs slipped momentarily, "People like you shouldn't exist!" Billy raised his voice slightly, seemingly getting angrier as he went on, "You are sinners! Demons! We should tell the priest so that he can do to you what he did to Tom!"

"What?!" Harry asked, dazed from being shaken about, _what did they do to Tom?_

"He was certainly eager to have you room with him, I bet you guys are gay too! Do you fuck each other huh? Does Tom want you're dick inside him? Does he beg for it?!" The larger boy seemed absolutely crazed and Harry's full bladder threatened to empty itself in the hall right then, _the muggles can't find out about me and Tom! I can't have that happen again!_

"No! Let me go!" Harry shouted as he kicked out at the larger boy, one of his legs landing in his groin, the older boy immediately dropped Harry as he howled in pain. Harry made a break down the hall, ripping open the fifth door and slamming it shut behind him before he backed away from it, wondering if the older boy would follow, if he did then Harry would be trapped, he hadn't thought about that when he ran, he simply wanted to get away and headed to where he had been going, his bladder still in desperate need of release.

Harry nearly pissed himself again right then when the door slammed open, banging loudly as the larger boy entered the bathroom, his expression murderous. Harry tried to assess if he could slip past him and escape the bathroom, to run to Tom and be safe.

Currently he was being backed into a corner near some dirty, porcelain sinks, deciding it was now or never he attempted to make a break for it, darting around the larger boy and thinking he would succeed until a hand grabbed his leg, dragging him back and throwing him to the corner.

Harry tried to back away but he was stuck between the tiled walls, the large boy closing in on him, he flinched away from the boy, trying to stop any contact at all but he was trapped and it was inevitable, a swift punch to the stomach had him unable to scream his protests as Billy hit him again and again. Harry thought it might be over when the boy stood again but a foot making contact with his head proved him wrong, he tried to shield himself with his arms as the heavy limbs pounded him, the blows battering him against the hard, tiled wall, black spots taking over his eyes every time his head was sent back into the solid material.

Billy stepped back, breathing heavily as he watched Harry cower on the floor, the smaller boy sure that he would have even more bruises now, his nose felt hot and painful from one of the blows, his breathing irregular as he drew in shaky breaths, eyes wide as he looked at the older boy, hoping it was over now but once again proven wrong when Billy reached for him, dragging him up by his shirt, so high that Harry's shoes did not reach the ground.

Harry gave the larger boy his best glare, blood trickling from his nose. Billy didn't seem to care though as he smiled cruelly at Harry, Billy brought his face closer to Harry's, smile in place as he moved as if to whisper a secret in Harry's ear, "Light's out freak." Harry barely had time to register the words before Billy pulled him away from the wall then he was smashing him against it, the hand that wasn't holding his shirt moving to grab his hair as Billy slammed him against the tiles with all his might, bashing Harry's head against the wall repeatedly, every strike hurting more than the last, Harry tried to scream but the sound was cut off as he bit his tongue, blood trickling from his lips, being spat out as Harry continued to yell, hoping that Tom, or anyone, would hear and save him, the pain in his head feeling like his skull would split open.

Harry's kicking legs made contact with the floor and he pushed himself back, away from Billy, landing between two sinks, his back to a large, long mirror that took up most of the wall. Dazed and in pain he had no time to escape before Billy was grabbing him again, both hands holding Harry's head now as he smashed him against the wall, parts of the mirror shattering to the floor in shards around Harry, the sharp edges left on the wall cutting into Harry's cheeks as Billy continued to shove him against the wall, Harry pushing at the larger boy, his legs kicking at the large shins.

The glass on the floor made their footing uneven and Harry managed to push away from Billy as their shoes slipped on some of the shiny debris, sliding down a sink and to the floor he struggled to crawl away, not caring for the tiny shards of glass piercing his hands and legs, not as long as he got away, he had to get away, his head was spinning to much and he could barely focus on the door, still hanging open from when Billy came crashing in. He barely registered the fact that he must have pissed himself at some point during the ordeal, the sticky liquid inflaming his legs as it dried and making him itch as much as the glass pricking into his skin like thorns.

He vaguely registered Billy moving behind him, probably to grab him and drag him back again, perhaps smash him into the broken glass on the floor he thought, but then there was a screeching sound from the hall, a woman, a dark dress rushing through the door.

And then he blacked out.

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	31. Snakes and Ladders

When Harry awoke he had a few moments to look about and see that he was in his and Tom's room on his lumpy bed before dark hair was taking up his vision.

"Harry?" Tom's voice sounded above him from the dark mass, "How do you feel?"

"Dizzy..." Harry replied, his vision adjusting after just waking, he shifted slightly and felt scars on his body being pulled, "What happened?"

"Well for one Billy beat you senseless in the bathroom." Tom growled out, his voice low and dangerous, almost slipping into parseltongue, "One of the matrons heard the glass break and came in, she said you fainted once she got there."

"What happened to Billy?" Harry asked, wondering if the boy would be punished for what he did.

"He's up in the attic."

"The attic?"

"They put naughty kids up there, so they can 'calm down before they are let out again'." Tom seemed familiar with the attic, "Honestly they probably would have given him the cane if you hadn't bloodied up his shins so bad, he's going to have some nasty scabs." Harry wondered if that would be all the boy had once Tom got to him, the older boy sounded positively pissed. Harry shifted himself up the bed, trying to sit up but Tom pushed him down again with a hand, "You suffered a minor concussion but other than that you only got some bruises and cuts. The matrons already pulled all the glass out of you and tended to your scars, they even tried to tend to the one on your head before I told them that one was old."

Harry felt like he had been ran over but it seemed it wasn't as bad as he thought, likely his fear at the time had made things worse for him, he was glad that Tom didn't mention the fact that he had pissed himself. The concussion was the most worrying part but he figured he woke up fine from blacking out and didn't feel too bad so he must be alright. "How long will Billy be up there?"

"That depends on when the matrons feel like letting him out, they will probably bring his meals to him if they leave him up there for long."

The thought of children being locked in attics worried Harry slightly but under the circumstances he couldn't bring himself to care as it was Billy that was locked up there. Tom was resting on the side of Harry's bed, his knees on the floor, a mix of emotions swirling in his dark eyes, anger and worry being some of them, Harry lifted a hand to card it through Tom's hair and watched as the tall boys shoulders lost some of their tension.

"Next time I will go with you." Tom stated, "Anywhere you go I will follow, alright?" Harry didn't feel he had a choice in the matter, but he was rather flatted by the statement and didn't mind at all if Tom was always by his side, such a thing was his greatest wish, perhaps he should have kicked Billy in the nuts earlier.

"Whatever you want Tom." Harry replied, his groggy mind finally catching up to speed, the room seeming to finally stop tilting, "Hey, Billy told me something about a priest doing something to you, what did he do?"

Tom's shoulders had immediately regained their tension, the dark eyes intent on looking at the thin blanket covering Harry rather than meeting his eyes, "It's nothing you should worry about." He stated firmly.

Harry groaned, "Tom, tell me... I can just find out from someone else if you don't."

Tom sighed but after a minute he spoke, "Some of the kids, Billy, Eric and some others, told the priest that comes around here sometimes about the weird things I could do, he believed I was possessed by a demon or something and tried to exorcise the spirit out of me..."

 "They tried to exorcise you?" he repeated, shocked, "What happened then?"

"Well... it was scary... and some parts of it hurt me. But I wasn't possessed..."

Harry tried to imagine how scary such a thing would be for a child, Tom must have been young at the time when it happened. It certainly seemed to have left a mark on him, however invisible, if he was so reluctant to talk about it. He returned his hand to stroking Tom's hair. "I'm sorry they did that to you."

Tom leaned into his touch a little, though his expression got no happier, "Why did Billy tell you?"

"He threatened to do the same for me."

"That bastard!" Tom was on his feet yelling within a second of Harry telling him, shocking Harry from how fast his mood went from sombre to aggressive in less than a second, "How dare he suggest such a thing!"

"It wouldn't really happen though, would it?" Tom merely looked at him with those dark eyes, not giving him a response, before he turned away again, pacing the floor in anger and muttering under his breath.

After a few minutes he seemed to have calmed down a bit and he turned back to Harry, "Harry, what ever you do, if you see that priest here at the orphanage stay away from him, okay?" It was an order and Harry knew he wouldn't be able to fight Tom on the matter, though he honestly wouldn't want to, if the priest was such a bad person as to exorcise a child based on rumours. He remembered Tom telling him a long time ago that the children avoided him.

"Alright, I won't go near him if he comes here." Harry agreed, Tom sighed and sat on the bed, Harry was surprised to see him so riled up over the matter, it must have been a truly bad experience.

Once that talk was out of the way Tom settled himself next to Harry, talking to him as they embraced, the two talking of less important things while Harry rested up, glad for whatever the matrons did that made the cuts on his body sting less.

 

* * *

 

 

The next day Harry was permitted by Tom to leave his bed, rolling his eyes at the fact that Tom was acting as his personal care-taker. While flattering it tended to be a bit annoying, especially since Tom got into a habit of treating him like he was some prized, fragile possession that should not be touched or even looked at by anyone, glaring at anyone that so much as walked down the hall too close to them.

They ate breakfast to the same stares and whispers as the previous day, Whalley sending them death glares from across the room.

Harry's cuts had already scabbed up, his bruises had set in and caused Harry to hiss when something so much as brushed against them, not helping his situation with trying to get Tom to see that he wasn't fragile, and his head only hurt if he thought on something too much or looked at something too bright.

During the first half of the day Tom and Harry spent time outside like they had before, this time no one attacked them though and they were able to stick to the small clearing between the bushes, sneaking kisses when they were sure no other orphans were near enough to see. After a while of sitting together Harry rested against the fallen trunk, sitting on the ground with his back to it, eyes closed and enjoyed the shade the trees provided from the glaring sun, as Tom got up and paced around the clearing.

They stayed like that for a while until Tom came over and nudged Harry, informing him that it was time for lunch, he helped him up and they went inside. Harry noted that Tom seemed to not be clinging quite as much anymore and was glad for that, it was getting to be suffocating.

Lunch was a short affair and Tom didn't seem to want to speak much, opting instead to watch the people around the room suspiciously, Harry wondered if he thought that they might jump up and attack them but didn't bother to ask, after lunch Harry headed up to their room as per usual and only noticed once he was there that Tom hadn't followed, looking out the door and down the hall he could not see the boy, he wondered where he had ran off to, _perhaps the bathroom?_ Harry wasn't overly bothered by it though and mere minutes later Tom entered, confirming he had gone to the toilet.

It wasn't until hours later and after dinner that Harry discovered that to be a lie when a snake was found in the attic, having been attacking Billy apparently, it was a small snake really, and nonvenomous too, but Harry knew instantly who was behind getting the snake there, a certain boy who could talk to the scaly creatures and wanted to see Billy hurt.

It didn't help Tom's case that he was grinning like a madman about it.

The snake had been shooed out of the attic by a matron using a broom, zipping down the halls in a bid for escape. Tom opened the door a crack and hissed for the snake, it entered and he hid it quickly, grinning all the while. The matron fumbled around in search of it, asking the occupants of rooms if the creature had been seen, Harry didn't want the snake to be hurt so he easily lied that they hadn't seen tail nor scale of it, he did shoot Tom a dirty look though.

In the end Harry decided not to hold it against Tom, the snake had only bitten Billy a few times and caused no real damage other than tiny pin-prick marks from it's teeth, and he had to admit that the large boy deserved it too. Tom kept the snake around, not being able to put it outside for the fact that it was light's out and they were on the second floor, Harry didn't mind though, the snake was actually rather cute once he got over the initial fear of it biting him.

That night they two boys shared a bed as usual, their new friend curled up on top of them.

 

_To be Continued..._


	32. Days Fade, Love Won't

Harry awoke the next morning and nearly jumped out of the bed when he saw the snake resting atop them, he managed to stop himself though and after a moment he extended a hand out from under the blanket to touch the scaly creature, still surprised that such a thing was actually very soft, not at all rough or slimy like one would expect. The mouth having a cute puckered look to it that made the creature all the more cute to Harry, he almost wanted to kiss it, but he figured it might not take kindly to having Harry's mouth so near to it's delicate body.

Tom's prone form stirred next to him, cracking open an eye and watching Harry stroke the snake for a minute before he rolled over and sat up, the snake sliding down the blankets into Tom's lap.

"Liking him are you?" Tom said, not really much of a question, as he started stroking down the snakes neck.

"Yeah." Harry replied, stretching out his arms and yawning widely, "It's a he?" He hadn't known that part.

"Yeah, he is." Tom replied in an amused tone, "We should get up."

Harry agreed and the two quickly got changed, Tom hiding the snake under his shirt, and went down for breakfast. Afterwards they headed to their spot between the bushes, Tom letting the snake out to slither around.

"Are you letting him go now?" Harry asked from his place on the log.

"Yeah, it's not safe for him inside." Tom replied, watching the snake nuzzle through some dried leaves, "Did you want to keep him?"

"Uh... well he is cute but if you say it isn't safe... and he is a wild animal, he belongs out here."

Tom turned to him, a small grin on his face, "When we leave this place we can get a pet snake," Tom informed him, "but for now its better like this."

Harry took in Tom for a moment before he asked, "Did you ever try to keep a snake before?"

Tom's face darkened instantly, eyes seemingly focusing on something in the past, "Once. Billy saw and told the matron and she took a shovel to it."

Harry watched the small snake that was venturing further from them now, "That's terrible." surely the snake from then must have died, likely in front of Tom too. Harry wondered what that must have been like, Hedwig had been his first friend and the thought of her being killed in front of him was too painful for him to linger on for long, it seemed the longer he stayed with Tom and the more he spent time at the orphanage the more he learnt about why the tall boy was always so cold and closed off, "I guess this _is_ better then."

Tom called the snake over and Harry got to hold it and say goodbye to it before they let it go again, it disappearing under a pile of crisp leaves not to be seen again. Harry missed it right away but felt better with Tom next to him, an arm around his waist. Harry couldn't wait to be able to leave the orphanage behind and start his life with Tom, unfortunately neither could leave until Tom was eighteen, which left them until the next summer. Tom had already promised Harry that he would take the smaller boy with him, that he would talk the matrons into it and Harry didn't doubt that the silver-tongued snake could do it.

Harry hated the orphanage after only a few days of being there, he wondered just how eager Tom was the leave the place behind and never look back.

The next few days were relatively peaceful for the two teens, Harry finally managed to finish all of his summer work with Tom helping him out a little, never giving him the answer but pushing him in the right direction to find it himself. They only ever spent time either in their room or between the bushes outside, their snake friend long gone now, and only straying when it was time for food or one of them needed to use the bathroom. Harry didn't mind really, he wished they could do other things but the matrons didn't let them wander the streets beyond the orphanage gates and everywhere else was occupied the other children and neither boys wanted to spend much time with them.

A week passed before Billy was let out of the attic, Harry was with Tom in the hallway when they saw one of the matrons leading the boy to his room, the look he gave Harry as he passed them was a dark omen, a promise of pain to come in the future. Harry hoped not to give the other boy the chance to follow through with the silent threat.

Despite that look in the hall weeks passed and the only incidents they had with Billy were a few jibes thrown about outside and poorly played pranks that only served to be slight inconveniences as best. Harry hoped that the larger boy would leave it at that and not try anything more, hopefully having learnt his lesson from his week in the attic. Harry was learning how to block out the things Billy said, to not react outwardly when the larger boy accused him of being an unloved, abandoned freak.

Every time Bill's words cut Harry that little bit too deep Tom would take him to their room and cuddle with him, Harry was forever thankful that the other boy seemed to realize that he wasn't as strong as Tom was, that his wounds didn't heal so easily and he still hurt inside.

Towards the end of July their Hogwarts letters came bearing the list of things they would need for their next year, along with money for both of them to buy the items, Harry remembered still having money in his bank at Gringotts and told Tom about it, the older boy suggested he not touch it but rather save it for when they leave Hogwarts and the orphanage, Harry agreed, seeing how it could help them acquire a decent flat without having to work up to it first while living with a friend or on the streets.

Tom eagerly went to inform the head matron, Mrs Cole, that they had to get their school things, not wanting to waste a minute when they could finally escape the confines of the cold brick walls for a while, making plans to stay at The Leaky Cauldron overnight with the excuse to make sure that they had a chance to get everything they needed. Mrs Cole put up no resistance, seeming rather glad to be rid of the two teens for a short while, and the two immediately left, lists and money on hand.

Harry couldn't remember feeling quite as relieved as the moment they were dropped off in London far from the orphanage, a weight he didn't know he had seeming to lift from him. Diagon Alley was just as wondrous as all of Harry's previous visits, the two boys set themselves to getting their school things first, having to settle for second hand books to have enough to afford all of the potions supplies they needed and new robes for Tom, Harry showing his displeasure at the fact that the older boy was still getting even taller and Harry had barely grown at all. Though for once he was also glad for it as it meant they could put more money into getting Tom nicer robes, not the patchy, ragged ones that the teen only made look good on him by some miracle.

They then enjoyed window shopping, flipping through books that held their interest and staring at objects neither would be able to afford, such as the newest broom sitting in the Quidditch store window, Tom had to end up dragging Harry off by an arm to get him away from where he was seemingly trying to meld himself into the window. They stopped by the ice-cream store once they had payed for everything they would need for school, Harry got chocolate and mint double-scoop while Tom got strawberry and vanilla with honey swirls, they each let the other taste their treats while they reveled in their day of fun and freedom.

Afterwards the two returned with their bags to the pub and payed for a room, thankful that in the wizarding world they got no disapproving or odd looks for only asking for one bed, it was cheaper to rent a room with a queen sized bed than one with two separate ones anyway. The pub owner merely nodded to them in what seemed like understanding of their hesitance, Harry wondered if their muggle clothes gave away the reason that his hands were shaking and if terrified, homosexual muggleborns were a common sight to the man.

Both boys merely dumped their bags on the floor of the small room and collapsed onto the bed together, exhaustion finally catching up with them after rushing about the alley all day long. They kicked their clothes of and cuddled together, Harry trying to ignore the nasty fact that a cheap room in a pub still had a better bed than they had at the orphanage.

As he drifted off in Tom's arms Harry wished that they wouldn't have to return the next day.

 

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	33. It's You I Love So Dearly

Harry woke in a very pleasant mood, the bed he was on was softer than any he had felt in a while, the blankets perfectly soft with no hint of the scratchiness that the orphanage ones had, not to mention he had the most perfect body laying next to him, and he just couldn't help but grind his morning wood into said other body.

He rolled his hips repetitively, rubbing against the other boys side and attempting to cause as much friction as possible, the movement was instinctual and Harry barely really recognized he was doing it, far too caught up in the wonderful bed and skinny body hugging so warmly against his, his sleep-foggy mind hardly conscious until said other body rolled over and dark eyes stared at him in exasperation.

"Good morning to you to precious." Tom stated in a voice as flat as his expression.

"Mmm..." Was Harry's only response, he had meant to say 'morning' but his mind had drifted off to his lower regions again before the words could properly come out.

"Are you going to continue humping me then?" Tom asked, body shifting ever so slightly as Harry's hips continued their circular motion towards the taller boy's body.

"Mhm." Harry responded, not once stopping or slowing his actions, enjoying the way the clothes on his body tugged on his manhood and softened the thrusts, one particular thrust met with Tom's hips and he could feel a similar bulge in the pants of the other boy, grinning more at that he continued to grind, aiming for that hard lump.

Tom seemed to content himself to watching Harry, propping an arm on his pillow to hold his head up and get a good look at the body writhing under the blanket like some injured snake. Harry tilting his head up to return the stare, bright green eyes glazed with lust and amusement as he continued to grind against the other boys hips. He was quite enjoying rubbing his body against the other but he was starting to want more, to rip their clothes off and get some _real_ friction.

Harry decided to act on his wishes and, throwing away the blanket, straddled the other boy easily, the move made all the easier as he was already moving against the others hips and the look on Tom's face showing he hadn't expected that to happen. Harry grinned down and him and rolled his hips again, this time his weight was behind it and the slow movement had their cocks moving between them, Tom letting out a low groan and raising his hands to Harry's hips.

Harry quickly started undressing, pulling his shirt over his shoulders and throwing it away swiftly before starting on Tom's, the taller boy lifting off the bed slightly to help Harry when he started tugging on it, next their pants followed, Harry shifting them off awkwardly, not wanting to get off Tom's hips.

After following suit with their underwear Harry sat proudly on the taller boys hips, a smug smile in place as Tom watched him.

"Enjoying yourself are you?" Tom asked, a grin tugging at his lips.

"Quite." Harry replied, running a hand down Tom's chest, making sure to touch one of his nipples on the way down. Suddenly he was feeling hesitant though, he wanted to try something new but he wasn't sure Tom would want to, he decided to ask anyway, nervousness creeping into his tone, "Tom, can I be on top this time?"

"On top?" Tom repeated, clearly not quite understanding exactly what Harry was asking for.

"I want to be inside you..." Harry was blushing from saying it, it wasn't as if they hadn't had sex before and yet he still got riled up over things like this.

Tom seemed to think for a moment, intent eyes staring at Harry, before he gave his response, "Alright, you can be on top this time."

Harry beamed and the look must have been entirely too much for the situation as Tom coughed down a laugh, Harry didn't really notice though, he was going to be inside Tom! Tom was going to let him! He could barely contain his excitement... until he remembered that he had no idea what to do and there was the possibility he could hurt Tom. Suddenly he was even more anxious than before he had asked.

Tom seemed to pick up on this, "It's okay Harry, I trust you won't hurt me."

"I don't..." Harry replied but Tom shut him up by pulling him down into a kiss, when they broke apart Tom had a bottle of lube in his hand and was offering it to Harry who raised an eyebrow at the taller boy, _he just_ happened _to have this?_

"I figured we might use some of our freedom for a truly private moment." Tom supplied as Harry took the bottle. Harry nodded and backed off Tom's hips, settling instead between his legs, half-hard cock laying against the skinny body. Harry placed the lube as his side for now, reaching out to stroke Tom's length to full hardness, dipping his head down to lick and suck at the tip before moving down, licking down the thick vein and to the balls, stopping at Tom's entrance to lick at it, prodding his wet tongue in, happy when Tom made a pleased sound and spread his legs further.

Harry found that the position wasn't too comfortable, Tom had to lift his hips for Harry to get a good angle and even then it was awkward. He pulled away and put a hand on the side of Tom's hip, putting pressure there until Tom got the point and rolled over. Harry then dove down to his hole again and started licking and prodding at it, the angle much better now that Tom was on his stomach, his tongue delving further into the tight ring.

As Harry continued to rim Tom, the older boy panting and moaning lowly into his pillow, he pulled the lube back to himself and slicked up some of his fingers, tentatively he placed one at Tom's hole, the older boy craning his neck to look, at Tom's nod Harry slowly pushed the finger in, careful not to move much except for pushing the single digit in, watching Tom the whole time for any sign that he should stop. Once the finger was fully in he stopped and held it there, "Is it alright?" he asked the older boy.

"It doesn't feel like much at all, try putting another in."

Harry did so, pulling the digit back to align a second one up with it and pushed them both into Tom, this time the older boys expression changed and Harry couldn't tell if it was discomfort or pleasure, he stopped anyway. Tom panted, eyes readjusting to Harry, "Continue." again Harry obeyed, continuing to push the digits in until they would go no further before looking to Tom again, the boy's dark eyes glazed over slightly, "Try stretching it now, like this." Tom demonstrated a scissoring motion with two of his fingers and Harry mimicked it, causing Tom to moan and drop his head into his pillow again, his legs shifting as Harry continued until he started using his knees to push himself against Harry's fingers, "Another." Tom demanded, his voice uneven as he continued trying to push Harry's fingers further into himself.

Harry grabbed the other boy's hips to steady him as he pulled the digits back again and lined up a third, squeezing them into the slightly stretched hole as Tom moaned loudly into his pillow, a leg flexing as the fingers got deeper, toes curling in the sheets. Once they were fully in Harry stilled them for only a moment before he started moving them in and out, stretching his fingers as he pulled them out before plunging them back in again.

Tom's cock was beginning to drip pre-come from where it dangled between his legs, completely forgotten as Tom moaned and bucked against the fingers. The sight reminded Harry of his own forgotten need, surely Tom was stretched enough now?

"Tom..." Harry said, it came out more of a whine though as he suddenly became more aware of his own aching privates, "Are you ready now?"

Tom nodded into his pillow, the action fast as if there was nothing better at that moment than the thought of Harry burying his cock inside the older boy. Harry grabbed the lube again and wet his hand before running it over his shaft, the slick sensation easily bringing him to full hardness as he shoved the lube aside again with one hand and lined himself up behind Tom, who had turned his head again to watch Harry through dark, glazed eyes, irises almost black in his pleasure.

Harry held himself in place as he pushed the head of his cock against Tom's stretched hole, looking to Tom who gave a tiny nod before he started pushing in, gasping and then moaning loudly at the still-tight pressure that met him, the lube helping guide himself in easily as Tom joined in his moaning. And _Merlin_ was he glad these rooms came with privacy wards on them, lest they would surely be caught in the act by some worried passerby.

Once his cock was half sheathed Tom started bucking against him, seemingly getting over the initial feeling of intrusion and trying to get the full length in sooner, Harry placed his hands on Tom's bony hips, pulling him back as he bucked forwards. It only took a few thrusts before Harry was fully inside Tom's ass, thoroughly enjoying the sensations of wet warmth and muscles contracting against him. He rested on Tom's back, arms around the older boy's chest, as they panted together, seeing why Tom had enjoyed himself so much when they had had sex in the dungeon room. Of course Harry had quite enjoyed playing the part Tom did now but the feeling was so different from before, this was an entirely new experience and Harry was going to enjoy every part of it.

Tom started bucking his hips back again and Harry got the message, pushing himself up and grabbing a hold of those bony hips again he pulled out, making the action and not stopping until he was sure that if he went any further it would have him slipping from the slick hole, he then pushed back in, faster than he had pulled out and relishing in the deep moan Tom let out, the older boy's arms bent under him to keep him from suffocating in his pillow as Harry pounded into him.

The pace got faster as Harry lost himself in the feeling of tight muscles around his cock, continuously pulling out and pounding back into Tom's hole like a crazed animal as he gripped the skinny waist so tightly as if to keep the other boy there, like he might let go and Tom would vanish.

Harry could feel heat pooling in his groin, a sensation like a coiled spring that could not wait to be let lose, and reached a hand around to stroke Tom's cock, running fingers over the head and dragging sticky pre-come over the length, fondling with balls for a moment before going back to tug on the hard shaft, trying to get the movements of his wrist in sync with the thrusts of his hips. Tom moaned below him, moving his hips frantically, one movement sending Harry's cock further inside him and another assisting the hand on his shaft.

The hot, coiling sensation was building until Harry was sure he would burst, gripping Tom hard as he shoved himself in as far as he could go and then he was moaning his pleasure, body shaking and hips bucking uncontrollably as hot come shot out, Harry felt the warmth of it on his cock and grinned to himself at the thought of it being in Tom.

Noticing Tom was still not done yet he tightened his grip on the cock in his hand and gave a few meaningful tugs, all that was needed before the older boy was spilling himself on the sheets with a throaty sound.

Harry backed on then, pulling his flaccid cock from Tom's stretched entrance before collapsing next to him, panting heavily in the aftermath and trying to get his breath back as he came down from his high.

"Merlin," Harry sighed, looking to Tom who turned his head to return the stare, "I love you Tom."

Tom grinned at him, "I love you too precious."

It took them another hour before they had energy back, were cleaned up, and ready to go back to their personal prison, heavy bags seeming less of a pressure upon them than the dark stone building they would be returning to for another month.

Harry rather thought a 'Welcome to Hell' sign wouldn't be out of place.

 

 

_To be Continued..._


	34. Pray For Salvation

To both boys' horror when the returned to the orphanage they found that during their time at Diagon Alley the infamous priest had shown up, neither met him but were notified of his presence by the matron blabbing about it as she opened the rusty gate and let them inside.

Tom had immediately pulled Harry upstairs and into their room, as if the mere thought of the priest showing up and _seeing_ Harry was terrible. Harry made no protests, the older boy's earlier warnings ringing in his head and the mans religion reminding Harry painfully of his devout father, he felt in no way ready to face such a religious man after what he had experienced prior to his arrival at the orphanage.

Harry didn't get to see the priest until dinner, having stayed in their room with Tom until it was time to head out. They stuck close together as they went to the dining hall and it was there that Harry saw him, a balding man with a rounded belly wearing dark robes, he sat at a table with a bunch of children, Billy and his friends included, all of them listening to what the old priest was saying.

"What are they talking about?" Harry whispered to Tom as they grabbed their food and settled in their usual seats.

"God probably." Tom replied with obvious disdain. "Some of them aren't even religious, they just want bonus points for sucking up to the old creep. That's why Billy does it."

Harry wondered how hanging out with the creepy priest could possibly give anyone 'bonus points' but then he remembered the matron and the way she had talked about the priest being there as if it was some great blessing and figured that the matrons would look upon the children hanging on the priest's words in a better light than other children who didn't. Looking around the room Harry noticed other orphans either attempting to ignore the old mans presence or sending shifty glances in his direction, like an animal prepared to make a run for it from a predator. Harry wondered why so many children seemed to not want to go near the man, did he exorcise them too?

They ate quickly and made to leave the hall, the priest thankfully still surrounded by children and not looking as if he would follow them, Harry wondered if that was even a valid fear, but the old man did look up as they left and the look he gave Harry definitely made him feel like a predator was watching him, the way the mans eyes took in his form before flicking to Tom unnerved him to an extreme, the change in his expression upon the switch giving Harry a feeling that the man had indeed had a nasty history with the other boy, and wasn't happy about it at all.

Harry shuddered and was glad when they returned to the safety of their room, the dingy floorboards and cramped space seeming much more inviting than the dining hall or anywhere else that the priest might go to.

Thankfully nothing seemed to happen, the priest never followed them or even spoke to them, but Harry did notice him watching them sometimes, the familiar prey-like feeling returning and making his heart speed up. Harry also noticed that while many of the children crowded around the man in the hall and outside the building very few of them actually visited the office that seemed to belong to him, and usually went in groups of at least three when they did.

Harry decided it was best if he ignored these things and just tried to stick with Tom where he was safe, the two rarely ever leaving their room aside from meals and toilet trips, the occasional slink outside to soak up some sun was spent lurking about, Tom eying the priest intently as if he could see malicious intent rolling off the man in waves, expecting some sort of attack at any moment.

Harry was just glad the man hadn't done anything, Tom told him that the priest usually only hung around for a week or two at most, it had already been over a week so Harry was waiting with baited breath for the man to disappear, hopefully forever and to never show up in either of their lives again. Then he would breathe easy again.

Unfortunately that day didn't seem to want to come soon enough, Harry was tiring of hiding away and jumping at every shadow, he had always known himself to be a paranoid person but since they started their relationship it seemed he wasn't the one winning in that category. Tom went to every length possible to attempt to avoid the priest, including cracking the door open to peek out before entering the hall and listening down the stairwell before descending. Harry was so tired of it.

He wanted the man gone, he wanted Tom to relax, he wanted to be able to sleep without some unfounded fear of something happening to them in the night.

Tom's constant vigilance had a large downside too, that being that the boy was tired and only getting worse the longer he stayed on edge about the priest, large dark bags hung under his eyes and the usually sharp boy kept missing details, this being evident when he tried to eat his soup with a fork until Harry corrected the matter and got him a spoon. Harry managed to talk the older boy into getting some proper rest, informing him that he could hardly keep an eye on the priest if he could barely even keep them open at all.

Unfortunately once Tom was sound asleep Harry suddenly had a desperate urge to use the bathroom, he contemplated waking Tom up but quickly dismissed the thought, it wouldn't be fair to wake him after he just convinced him that it was safe to sleep. At the same time though he _really_ needed to go, damn him for drinking so much that morning. He tried to hold it in and ignore it, hoping the need would pass, but that didn't seem to work at all.

Peering out into the hallway he remembered the last time he had gone to the bathroom alone, he had been beaten into the walls by another orphan until he had passed out, but he couldn't let his fear stop him, would he never use a bathroom again without holding someone else's hand? It was undignified! He was sure he could do it, just this once.

Creeping out into the hall Harry cautiously made his way to the bathroom, he reached it and managed to relieve himself without incident and was silently praising himself as he ascended the stairs again and made for his and Tom's room.

And then a voice sounded behind him and Harry froze before turning around the face the speaker.

The priest stood a few steps behind him, Harry realized that the man must have followed him up the stairs, his heart started up a frantic beat, unsure if he should run or if that would be inappropriate, he might be punished for it, especially since he had already given the priest his attention. Instead he remained frozen in place, watching the priest with wide, fearful eyes.

"So you are the new orphan," the man spoke politely, stepping closer to him, "I'd like to talk with you if you don't mind." the priest said, gesturing down the stairs again.

Harry would have very much liked to tell the man exactly how much he minded but knew it wasn't really a request he could deny, lest he be locked in the attic for his rudeness or given the cane. Instead his only option was to follow the man back down the stairs, giving one last longing look down the hall, wishing Tom would abruptly wake right then and come searching for him. Unfortunately no one came to his rescue as he was led to the mans office, damning his bladder Harry hoped this would just be a talk about his short time at the orphanage and that nothing sinister would happen.

The man closed the door behind them when they got into his office and sat in a chair behind a large desk, motioning for Harry to sit on another chair before the desk. His whole body was tense as he sat on the slightly cushioned seat, joints seeming to be spring-loaded to jump up and escape at any moment.

The priest seemed to not notice Harry's nervousness and began talking, "I hear from the matrons that you were brought here after being abused." Harry merely nodded, not daring to open his mouth for he feared he might wail like some trapped animal, the priest clasped his hands together on the desk in front of him, "Can you tell me what kind of abuse?" Harry didn't answer him, he didn't _want_ to speak, certainly not about _that_ , and he still felt the only sounds he would make were certain to be unintelligible. The priest pressed on, "It was physical was it not?" Harry nodded, averting his eyes from the man, not liking the way he was looking at him, "Sexual?" Harry spluttered, the man was certainly prying far to much, was this part of his job here? To question orphans like himself on their past? The priest leaned back in his chair with a sigh, obviously taking Harry's spluttering for an answer, "I see you are close to Mr Tom Riddle, tell me child, what is your relationship with God?"

Harry felt a slight sense of deja vu, having had this talk with his father so many times in the past, Harry turned his head up to look at the man, "I don't believe he exists sir." blunt but still respectful, he shouldn't get in trouble for that, right?

The priest sighed again and Harry was reminded ever so slightly of Dumbledore when Harry refused to go along with the mans ideals, "I hate to see that you think that way."

Harry was getting aggravated now, reminded far too much of the many arguments he had had with his father over the matter, standing up Harry replied bitingly, "You and many others, but I don't think he exists nor will I ever, so I'll be going now then." he turned and headed for the door but thudding footfalls sounded behind him until the priest passed him, blocking his path, the predatory look in his eyes glinting dangerously.

Harry backed up nervously as the man advanced on him, "Billy Stubbs tells me you are a lot like Riddle, just as strange and evil. A sinner." Harry tried to say something in protest but was distracted as he bumped into the desk and quickly slipped around it to keep his distance from the looming priest, his plans failing once he realized he had backed himself into a corner, just like when Billy had assaulted him in the bathroom, he really had to think about escape routes earlier.

The priest was hovering over him now, a hand placed on the wall that provided the largest gap between it and the man, trapping Harry in place, sure that if he ran he would be caught like Billy had caught him. Harry dared to look up, the priests eyes were more predatory than ever and Harry noticed with horror that there appeared to be a good amount of lust colouring them, the truth to the looks the priest had been sending him since he arrived suddenly and horrifically dawning on him.

He gasped aloud when hands were upon him, tearing at his belt and tugging it down, the tight band pulling at him and the force nearly knocking him over, what was this man doing? He must be crazy! "Get off me!" Harry shouted, trying to push the man away even as his shorts slipped down to his knees, the priest was too large however and Harry too small to put enough force behind his shoving, the man easily pushing him back against the wall.

The priest grabbed Harry's shoulder roughly and turned him to face the wall, the clothes hanging around Harry's knees stopping him from holding his position and making him stumble as his face was squashed up against the wall. The priest roughly tugged his underwear down to join the shorts around his knees, Harry whimpering in protest and attempting to shove off the wall with his hands but the man merely rested an elbow against his back and put his weight on it, Harry could hear the sounds of shuffling clothes and thought with dread that the man must be unsheathing himself, he struggled again but it was as fruitless as every other time, he tried crying out for help but found his voice weakened with fear to pitiful wails that likely didn't reach the hall outside.

"You said this happened before," The priest said, grabbing Harry's hair and tugging so that his head was pulled backwards, putting an uncomfortable curve in his back as his hips and head stuck out from the wall as his chest was pushed up against it, "So you best be good at this."

Harry felt the man lining himself up with his small ass, _he isn't even going to use lube?!_ Harry tried crying out again but the priest cut him off by yanking his hair roughly. Harry's heart was pounding frantically, at least when his father had abused him he had the common sense to lube up the cone first, and that had still hurt like hell!

The head of the priest's penis was just rubbing against Harry's small hole when the door was flung open, from his awkward position against the wall all Harry saw was a blur until the priest was yanked off of him and he was being practically dragged out of the room, pulling his pants up Harry saw his saviour was Tom and thanked the stars as he tried to keep pace with the older boy as he was dragged through the halls, praying to Merlin that the priest would not catch them.

 

_To be Continued..._


	35. The Hardest Thing

The two boys rushed up to their room, Harry wondered if the priest would follow and hoped that the man pulling up his pants again would save them time, surely he wouldn't rampage through the orphanage with his junk hanging out?

Once inside the room Tom didn't stop, instead he jumped up on the desk and unlatched the window, shoving the pane up to open it, he then started climbing out shouting a "Follow me!" to Harry, Harry hesitantly climbed up on the desk and skeptically peered out of the window, they may have only been on the second floor but the ground floor had high ceilings making the drop from the window a dangerous one. Turning his eyes to Tom he saw the taller boy climbing a pipe heading to the roof, he wondered just how sturdy the pipe was but the thought of the priest coming after them and barging into the room was enough to have him stretching his body out of the window to grasp at the rough and dented metal.

Harry tugged on the pipe experimentally before carefully slipping the lower half of his body out of the window and tentatively searching for footholds as he followed Tom, the older boy more confident and seeming to know where to dig his feet in already, as if he had climbed the wall many times before, Harry copied him as he made his way up, expecting to hear their bedroom door crash open at any moment, his heart thudding so much he thought it might push him off the stone wall.

Harry hung awkwardly in the air for a moment as he clambered over the gutter onto the roof, the tilted surface making his heart lurch until he steadied himself and crawled over to where Tom was sitting halfway up.

"Will we be safe here?" Harry asked as he reached Tom's side.

"Do you think that priest will haul his chubby ass up here?" Tom retorted, pulling his knees to his chest and hugging them, "We should be fine for as long as we stay up here."

"And when we come down?" Harry wondered, afraid of the answer.

"Hope that the cane is all we get."

Harry sat back, resting his hands behind him, and thought over what had happened, his panic was dulling into a steady, hard beat of his heart, fears of the priest showing up being pushed away for later. He hoped that when they came back down they would not be bothered by the priest. Harry hadn't expected that to happen, that the man would molest him, but looking back he figured he probably should have, the reactions of the other children to the mans presence making so much more sense now.

Harry sighed dejectedly, hating himself, "I'm sorry." he said in a quiet voice.

Tom turned his head to him in an almost surprised gesture, "For what?"

"For leaving the room when you were asleep, I let my guard down, despite all the shit that has happened so far this year I am still so stupid and let myself get caught."

"You can't blame yourself for things that _he_ did." Tom reasoned, looking out over the roofs of the surrounding buildings again, his voice turned bitter, "He is the sick one that hurts kids."

They were silent again for a while, Harry scratching a fingernail over a stain on one of the shingles, a thought crossed his mind and he decided to tentatively voice it, "Did he... ever hurt you like that?"

Tom didn't meet his eyes, didn't even twitch or turn his head, perhaps having expected the question, "Yes."

Harry's heart fell and he returned to scratching the stain, the repetitive motion keeping the gears moving in his head, keeping him grounded, "What happened?" he asked then hastily added, "If you don't mind telling me."

Tom sighed, eyes lidded as the sun started dipping down and setting the roofs alight in a fiery glow, "It was before the exorcism, he got me in his office and then he tried to do it, just like with you. He got as far as pushing the head against me before I realized what was happening and my magic kicked in." Tom's eyes shifted to the edge of the roof that they had climbed over, "After that he decided I was possessed because of the magic... I suppose he also wanted revenge for my getting away... I was six."

Harry had no words, to have such a thing happen when a person was only six was unimaginable, the pain and terror he felt from his own memories making him hardly believe that a person could survive such an ordeal at an even younger age. Tom was a stronger person than he had thought. Harry's hand lay still, no longer incessantly scratching at the shingle, his whole body seemed frozen to him, the summer sun doing nothing to cool the shards of ice that had made their way into his heart.

Harry was jerked out of his thoughts when a hand rested atop his, turning to see Tom watching him with a calm expression, "It's okay precious, it was a long time ago and I'm still here aren't I?"

He didn't know how to respond, knowing now that the pain he felt was shared by the love of his life, that the most perfect person he had ever met was just as damaged and hurt as himself, which in turn hurt him even more. But he _was_ still here. Harry felt that said a lot about the strength the other boy had, to live his life with that darkness inside him but continue on anyway. Harry wondered if his experiences would stick with him for so long, if the pain in his chest would be a constant reminder that there was such cruelty in the world, that people he trusted and strangers he never knew were equally capable of causing him suffering. But Tom had lived for so long with it and seemed determined to continue doing so, so he could be strong too, right?

His thoughts returned to Tom, how much he loved the other boy, that feeling only seeming to strengthen with the new revelation of what had happened to him, making him want to wrap his arms tightly around the other boy and never, ever let go. His fantasies of their future together suddenly seemed so far away, the brightness of an old dream dulling with time and the harshness of reality, but he still thought about them being together, being able to return to Tom every day in a comfortable, private place, even if it was just a shabby room in a pub, and having someone he loved near to him, to deal with him when he was at his weakest and make the world seem better again. 

Words slipped from his mouth before he could stop them, before he could even think about them, "Stay by my side." Never before in his life had he wanted someone to be so close to him and he never wanted to let that feeling go.

Tom smiled at him and shifted closer until their sides were touching, their hands still together behind them, "Always."

Harry rested his body against the taller boy, his hand slipping from under the other to wrap around Tom's side, wishing still to be closer, as if to meld with the other boy and become a stronger entity that could deal with the pain better. The anguish he felt in his chest making him feel at a huge distance from the world, even Tom, despite the boy being right next to him. They were so close yet at that moment Harry couldn't have felt further away, barely part of the world at all despite the way it kept moving around him.

When an arm wrapped around him he thought he had never experienced a better feeling in his life, the warmth of the limb combating the chill of the cooling afternoon air, seeping in and breaching the shards of ice in his chest, melting them away to a soggy puddle he wished would dry sooner.

Vaguely Harry's mind reminded him that they were missing dinner but he didn't care much, knowing that the empty hole in his stomach was not from hunger and he was not at all willing to leave the safety of the high roof, sitting among the tops of the many stone buildings making him feel miles away from the orphanage beneath them.

A feeling of gratefulness washed over Harry, pushing back his feelings of worthlessness and despair, he had Tom but that also meant that Tom had him. Thinking about it Harry didn't think Tom had much of anyone other than him, which made him sad, the beautiful, intelligent, charismatic, slightly messed up and dark boy was everything to him, cracks and dents and all. Harry vowed he would try his best to prove to Tom just how much the other boy meant to him, that he would show him what true love was, that he would give every bit of love he had to this broken boy, his Tom, his everything.

As the sun was hiding behind tall buildings and stars began to glow in the night-darkening sky they heard the sounds of a door opening somewhere far below and heeled boots clacking on stone. Crawling across the roof to look down at the front gates Harry flinched back momentarily to see it was the priest, peering back over when it was clear the priest was not going to turn around and see him the two boys watched the man walk with Mrs Cole to the rusty gates, a black cab waiting for him.

He was leaving.

"It's been two weeks." Tom whispered to thin air, as if a reminder to himself more than as a statement to Harry.

The priest and head matron hung about for a minute exchanging farewells before the priest got in the cab and with a loud popping sound from the engine it drove off down the street, away from the orphanage.

"He's gone." Harry said, barely believing it, elation rising in his chest, they didn't have to worry about the man anymore, they could return to their room and walk the halls with their only fear being Billy and his bunch of friends, the rowdy bunch of teens hardly a worry in the face of the evil that had just left.

"He's gone." Tom agreed with a relieved sigh, turning to smile at Harry.

Harry returned the smile and hugged Tom, the force of it pushing them back on the shingles, both boys laughing and smiling, relieved tears streamed from Harry's eyes and blurred his vision of the beautiful face before him.

Harry wiped at the tears, still smiling and laughing, "I love you Tom." he stated, and never before had he felt truer words come from his mouth.

Tom smiled up at him from his place beneath Harry, his back on the roof, "I love you too Harry, my precious treasure."

Pale hands reached up and pulled him down swiftly, lips pressing together, emotions being let out and shared between them in a passionate embrace.

It was over now, they had survived and there was only a week left before they would return to Hogwarts and never again have to deal with the orphanage or its dreadful residents.

They had made it.

 

 

_The End._


End file.
